


The Waterfall

by F1_rabbit



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/F, F/M, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:30:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6610783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the summer holidays and Jo and her friends are getting away for a nice break before they have to go back to uni, and they come across a waterfall with a hidden lagoon. Then things start to get strange once they're back at uni, and they have to work out what is going on before someone gets hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preparation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fasterthanthetardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fasterthanthetardis/gifts).



"Do you want me to pack this?" Esta's grin was massive and Nicola smiled when she saw what she was holding. The strap-on.

"I'm not sure that we're going to have space to use it in the tent." Nicola leant in for a kiss, and then watched as Esta tried to wrap it up in a t-shirt.

There was no easy way to cover what it was and Esta admitted defeat. "Maybe you're right, we wouldn't want our friends seeing it."

"Since you've got it out, maybe we could find a use for it," Nicola said, fluttering her eyelashes as she reached out for Esta, pulling her into a messy kiss. Esta slid a hand inside Nicola's nightie, her hands were so soft and delicate, and they knew how to get her aroused.

Nicola dumped the rucksacks on the floor, scattering clothes everywhere as she lay back on the bed, inching up her nightie as Esta fumbled with the strap-on, which was made more awkward by her pyjamas, but she didn't want to stop now, they didn't have long left together. Nicola was leaving early tomorrow morning, and Esta had to wait for her friend Sera to finish her resit before they were going to join them on holiday.

Esta took a deep breath, she could worry about all of that later, when Nicola wasn't stretched out before her, looking like a goddess, waiting for Esta to give her the most exquisite of pleasures, a long, satisfying orgasm that would leave her breathless and dizzy.

Just the thought of it had Esta crawling onto the bed, her silicone cock wobbling as she moved and Nicola had adjusted her glasses so that she could see it all. Esta nuzzled at the soft skin of her thighs, her tongue darting out to lick her clit as Nicola writhed on the bed. She was so wet and Esta towered over her, kissing her as she slid inside, holding Nicola tight as their bodies pressed together.

Esta loved the intimacy, having the scent of Nicola's hair surrounding her and the taste of Nicola on her lips. Every gasp and moan as her mouth hung open felt made her feel special, only she could make Nicola sound like this, it was unique to them.

Nicola's eyes were screwed shut, and Esta changed the angle slightly, the strap-on rubbing her clit as Nicola shuddered in orgasm, Esta following before collapsing on top of her. Nicola was still gasping with the aftershocks and Esta realised that she must be squishing her.

She rolled off her so that she could cuddle in beside Nicola. Only the sound of their breathing filled the room and Esta knew that their bed was going to feel lonely without her tomorrow night.

"I'm going to miss you," Esta said, and Nicola held her tight.

"It's only a day, I'll see you Friday night." Nicola gave her a kiss, before heading towards the shower, Esta trailing behind her.

*

"Hi, I'm not late am I? Kevin said to meet you all here." Dani sat down with her coffee, looking around to see if Kevin was there already.

"Kevin can't make it," Marcia said, her brother wasn't always the most punctual, but that ran in the family. "Stoffel needed a hand moving a few things into the flat before we go away tomorrow."

"How does Jo feel about sharing with all of you?"

"She's cool with it, the flat's big enough for four, and it means cheaper bills for all of us." Marcia took a sip of her coffee before wiping her lipstick off the rim.

Dani nodded, she had to share with the girls that she was on the same scholarship programme with, they were all nice enough, but the Taurus Scholarship meant that a lot was expected of them, which would be fine if they weren't constantly watched over, reminded that any slip in their grades would result in them losing their scholarships.

She was a little bit envious that Marcia got to live with her friends. Even if that meant that she had to share a flat with her little brother too, although he was only a few minutes younger than her, but they were good friends, so it had all worked out well for them.

"Do you still want to go see the movie? Just the two of us?" Dani asked, she wasn't sure that Marcia would be interested, they were friends, but it wasn't usually just them, normally other people were around too.

"Sure, if you're not busy." Marcia picked at her cake, licking her lips to get all the stray bits of icing.

Dani felt her heart race at the sight of Marcia's tongue darting out, her face lit up with a smile and it made Dani happy to see her so content.

They wandered along to the small cinema, their arms interlinked, and Dani was luxuriating in the feeling of having Marcia close, her blonde hair flying everywhere with the wind. Dani's usual hairstyle of a bun was wind-proof, although there were little wisps of hair that kept sticking to her lip gloss.

When they got to the cinema, Dani let Marcia pick the film, she was just happy to spend time with her. Dani got comfy, holding the popcorn and apologising every time that their hands touched. After a little while, Dani could see where the story was going, a woman, madly in love with her friend, but too scared to tell her.

Dani wasn't sure if it was coincidence or if Marcia felt the same, was she trying to tell her something? She reached out so that their hands touched, as though it was accidental, waiting to see if Marcia batted her hand away, but she didn't. So Dani summoned all of her courage and intertwined their fingers, holding her breath until she felt Marcia stroke along the side of her hand with her thumb, and she relaxed, enjoying the rest of the film.

It was a perfect first date film, a happy ending for all and Dani left the cinema feeling dizzy with emotion, holding Marcia's hand.

Marcia walked Dani back to her flat, standing on the doorstep as Dani ducked down to kiss her, hidden from the world by thick hedges. It was the perfect first kiss, the sweet hint of the sugary popcorn still on her lips and Dani ran her fingers through Marcia's soft hair.

"I'll see you tomorrow, we're going to pick you up at seven."

"I can't wait." Dani rooted through her purse for her keys, they were always disappearing and she wondered how they managed to hide themselves so well.

Marcia smiled, giving Dani a quick kiss on the cheek before wandering down the path with a big grin on her face.

Her phone buzzed and she checked to see who it was. Kevin, no doubt wanting to apologise for bailing on them.

_Hope your date went well ;)_

She should have known that he would do something like this, she shouldn't have told him how she felt about Dani, but it had all worked out so well that she couldn't hold it against him, especially since he must have told Stoffel to make up an excuse as to why he couldn't make it as well.

Marcia really did love her brother sometimes, and although she knew it wasn't most people's idea of fun, going to the same uni as her twin brother, for her, it had all worked out perfectly.

*

Jo was packing, she was making sure that she had a full first aid kit, sanitary towels even though she wasn't due on, and condoms, even though she was painfully single. She also had snack bars and spare clothes, along with a lot of wet wipes.

She wondered if there was any point going, since she'd just end up playing responsible adult to Marcia, and her brother Kevin, who was fine when he was sober, but once he'd had a few drinks he tended to need a babysitter.

Although she didn't mind, she and Marcia went way back, so she didn't mind looking after Kevin every now and again. And his best friend Stoffel was usually there to offer a helping hand, so she didn't have to look after him alone, which was a relief, even though he was light to carry, he was a fidget, and she'd dropped him more than once, although thankfully he'd never got more than a few bruises.

Jo was glad that it wasn't just them going on the camping trip, the girls on the same scholarship as Dani were coming, along with a couple of the other girls on the football team and their friends.

It was going to be fun to hang out with some different people, although she'd not met a couple of them before, it would be nice to meet some new people. She felt like she'd had the same friends forever, all of who were either on her course, or played for the same football team.

Apart from that Jo didn't really have many other social groups, so this was going to be the perfect opportunity.

The rest of the afternoon she spent checking that all the parts of the tent were in order and undamaged, that her sleeping bag was intact after being stored for so many months, and that her little camping stove worked.

She laughed when she thought about what Kevin would probably pack, no doubt alcohol and sweeties, with no real food and not enough clothes. Although it would hopefully stay dry for the week, which would reduce the amount of clothes that they would need.

With that thought, Jo went to find her waterproofs, they were lightweight and wind-proof, and she packed them, just in case, the weather here was every bit as unpredictable as Britain. Although Sweden had a lot more space to go camping in, and they were going to be somewhere near a lake which would be nice, there was nothing more relaxing to Jo than the sound of water.

She texted Marcia to make sure that everything was still on, and Marcia told her that they were going to be taking Dani up, as well as Kevin and Stoffel. It would be a squeeze, but they would manage, it was going to be a long journey so they would have to take a lot of breaks anyway.

Jo decided to go and get drinks and sweeties for the journey, before working out how to fit all of this in the car that she'd borrowed from uni. It was one of the few perks to being a teaching assistant in the classes with the younger students, she got to use the pool cars like the other members of staff.

It made sense that some of them drove up, just in case they needed anything while they were up there, and for emergencies. And since she was the only one with a driver's licence and access to a car, so she was going to have to do all the driving alone.

She set her alarm for half five in the morning, snuggling into bed with a book and a mug of hot chocolate, excited about her holiday and all the fun adventures that they were going to have together.


	2. Journey

Jo had ended up having to drag Marcia out of bed, and Stoffel had done the same for Kevin, bundling them both into the car while they were still in their pyjamas. Stoffel had sat in the front, mainly so that he didn't end up being used as a pillow while the wonder twins slept.

Stoffel had gone to get Dani, which she wasn't surprised about, and Dani managed to slide into the car next to Marcia, cuddling her close without waking her.

Jo caught a glimpse of Marcia and Dani in the rear view mirror, and she realised that it made perfect sense, they just seemed so good together. She was a little annoyed that Marcia hadn't told her but she was happy for her friends either way.

The first few hours of the journey was quiet, Dani read and Stoffel sat in silence, happy to look out of the window as they passed through the countryside. It was calm and sedate, which was better than she had hoped for, she was worried that it would be noisy with five of them in the car.

"I'm hungry," Marcia said, yawning as she stretched, nearly elbowing Dani in the face and shoving Kevin off from where he was resting on her shoulder.

Jo laughed, Marcia was always either sleepy or hungry, and there was no way that she'd have had breakfast before they left this morning, so it was about time that they stopped for a late breakfast.

"I'll stop at the next place I see, okay?" Jo would be happy to have a little bit of a break, and stretch her legs before getting back in the car, there was probably another four hours' drive from here, but there would be another stop in that time, even if it was for nothing more than just a chance to get some fresh air. They would be there before dark, although in the summer, dusk seemed to go on for a long while, and Jo was thankful for that.

It wasn't long before there was a sign for a café, and Jo pulled in, glad that they seemed to have space for all of them to sit. She'd be able to see the car from inside, so they didn't have to worry about their stuff.

Marcia got some clothes out of her bag, and headed towards the café, the rest following as Jo brought up the rear, making sure that the car was locked, twice, before wandering after them.

The food was good, juicy burgers with nice thick chips, and everyone ate in silence, which was rare. Jo was just relieved that they'd made a good chunk of the journey before having to stop, and she wondered how everyone else was getting on with their travels.

*

Nicola was squished up on the bus, wondering how it was possible to have the seats so close together that there wasn't even room for her legs. She knew that she was tall, but she wasn't so tall that there weren't other people like her. In the end Paul had let her rest her legs over his lap, and she was grateful for it, since it was going to be nearly nine hours on the coach, with only one break.

"Just like old times," Paul said, and Nicola smiled, it had been so long ago, when they were both still at high school. Paul had moved because of his dad's job, and he'd had to do the last two years in a German high school, with no idea what people were saying for the first couple of months. But Nicola had been intrigued right from the start, his soft voice and wry smile had drawn her to him, and once they started talking, she found out that they had a lot in common.

"If we had sex in the bathroom… that would be like old times." Nicola smiled, she wasn't sure why she was playing games with Paul. She had a girlfriend, although he knew that, he knew that she was just teasing, being friendly.

Nicola thought about all the times that they'd had sex in quite public places, and not just bathrooms, cinema screens, gigs, anywhere that she could grind up against him was fair game.

It had been fun while it lasted, the exuberance of youth, her first true love. But then she'd got accepted to university and it meant moving away, so they'd broken up. They had agreed to stay friends, but they hadn't kept in touch, so when Nicola saw him, wandering around campus after six months, she'd thought it was a trick of the mind.

By then she was dating Esta, and her and Paul were good friends, so everything seemed to work out well for them, although she couldn't help wondering 'what if' about her relationship with Paul. If she'd only tried to make things work long-distance, but then would he have chosen to study here if he knew that she was here as well? She would never have an answer to it all, but she was glad that they were still in each other's lives, that was the most important thing.

Paul's hand was still resting on her knee, she'd been lost in her thoughts and hadn't thought to move it, but there was no harm in a little physical contact between friends. Was there? Although she knew deep down that if Esta was here, there was no way that she'd be sitting like this.

She'd never told Esta that they used to date, it didn't seem important back then, but as time had gone on she'd wondered if it would be better if it was out in the open. But she'd never told Esta that she was bi either, so telling her that she used to date Paul, was going to mean admitting other things too.

Nicola knew that she was a couple of years too late thinking about all this, and there was no easy answer, so she rested her head against Paul's shoulder, not minding that they were holding hands, and drifted off to sleep. Otherwise, it was going to be a very long journey with these thoughts plaguing her mind.

Paul slung his arm around her and just as she was falling asleep, she felt him press a kiss to her forehead, just like he used to when they were dating.

*

Jo had put the radio on, partly so that she could have a little music, but mostly so that she could drown out the noises of Marcia and Dani making out in the back seat of her car. Kevin was still sound asleep next to them, which was probably for the best.

Stoffel kept shooting her sympathetic little glances, and they were chatting away about what they were planning to do after university, even though it was a year away, they were going to have to start thinking about what they wanted for their future.

Jo knew that she was lucky, she always had a job with her dad if she wanted it, but she knew that others weren't in such a good position.

"It'll be nice to share a flat with you guys," Stoffel said, "My current flat is a little too loud for me to study for finals with them around."

Jo smiled, she knew that he was going to learn the hard way that Kevin was anything but quiet, although it wasn't in the parties and loud music kind of way. Kevin just didn't have much concept of personal space, and he was happy to wander in and out of people's rooms when he wanted some company, no matter what they were up to, or how urgently they needed to finish studying. Or the fact that he couldn't cook, and just expected everyone else to feed him, although he did do the dishes and clean the kitchen, which seemed only fair.

She would be glad to have Stoffel sharing with them, as much as Marcia was her best friend, she was never going to be as close to her as she was to her brother, and she couldn't help but feel a little envious of that sometimes. Although she knew that she was equally close to her baby brother, but they didn't get to see a lot of each other since they were in different countries for most of the year.

"It'll be nice to have a considerate flatmate," Jo said, but when she glanced in her rear view mirror, there was no sign that Marcia had heard her, or had any intention of stopping what she was doing. Marcia had a hand inside Dani's top, and Jo decided that she would stop at the next place they came across, just so that she could get a little bit of a break from all of it.

Also, as they got further into the countryside, and further away from the towns, she was aware that there might not be many more places to stop before the reach the camping site, and it would be nice to break up this last stretch.

There was a sign counting down to the nearest town and Jo thanked her lucky stars that there was somewhere to stop. Even with the radio turned up quite loud, it was no longer drowning out the gasps and moans from Marcia and Dani.

When they finally stopped, Jo thought about prying Marcia and Dani apart, but it didn't seem to be worth the effort, and Kevin was still sound asleep next to them, oblivious to it all.

She went in to get a coffee, and Stoffel followed, leaving the others in the car. It was nice to sit with him, enjoy the peace and quiet of the café, his soft voice was calming and she felt herself relaxing as he talked about his parents, his home in a quiet little Belgian town and his love of computers.

By the time that they got back to the car, everyone was asleep. Marcia and Dani must have tired themselves out with all their kissing and groping, which meant that Jo could drive the last couple of hours up to the campsite in peace.

*

They'd arrived at a nice time to get the fire going so that they could cook dinner, and Jo had her little stove as back up for if or when, it rained.

Marcia and Dani headed off to find fire wood, it was going to take a while to get the fire going so that it was hot enough to cook on, although Jo was sure that they were going to find time to do some other things in the woods.

Jo thought about setting up the tents, but then her phone buzzed and she saw that it was a message from Nicola.

_Our coach was late and we missed the last bus out to the campsite. Can you come pick us up? Thanks sweetie x_

Jo shook her head, but she knew what public transport was like, although it didn't seem to be as bad here in Sweden as it was at home. She headed off to get Nicola and Paul, leaving Kevin and Stoffel in charge of putting up the tents while she was away.

It wasn't a long drive to the little town nearby, and it saved Nicola and Paul having to carry their heavy bags along the track into the campsite, which was well over a mile.

Jo got back to see that some of the tents had been erected, and that the fire was starting to grow to a nice size so that they could cook dinner on it. They had fresh food for tonight, but after that it was all dried food that they would have to rehydrate and heat, so she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

"We've got a problem," were the first words out of Stoffel's mouth as Jo wandered up to the fire.

"What's wrong?" Jo asked, but everyone seemed to be uninjured, and no-one looked like they were upset, or angry, so what could be wrong?

"Kevin forgot to bring his tent." Stoffel glared at him but Kevin just shrugged, smiling his usual cheeky little angel smile that got him out of most situations. "And we were meant to be sharing a tent."

"Ah." Jo had a tent that she and Marcia were meant to be sharing, and Dani should have a tent of her own. So from what she'd seen in the back seat of the car, they'd be happy sharing a tent for the next few days. "Nicola, do you have a tent?"

"Yes. It's a big one, with a divider down the middle." Nicola looked up at Paul who was standing next to her as she warmed her hands on the fire, even though it was a mild evening she seemed to have permanently cold hands, although Jo wasn't one to talk on that front. "You're welcome to share with me."

Jo wouldn't have minded if it was just Nicola, but she didn't really know Paul, and Esta and Sera were going to be joining them tomorrow, so she took the most logical route.

"It's cool, I'll share with Kevin and Stoffel." Jo looked at Kevin with her most serious face. "If you snore, I will smother you in your sleep."

"I don't snore!" Kevin said, holding his hands up in protest.

Stoffel burst out laughing and Jo couldn't help but laugh too. Kevin didn't always snore, but when he did, it was loud enough to wake anyone nearby. Jo went to fetch the pans so that they could cook their food, glad for a distraction from everything.

She'd shared a bed with Kevin before, that wasn't a big deal, but Stoffel was a friend, and after their day of chatting and getting to know each other better, she wasn't sure if she if she wanted to be more than friends with him, which was going to make things just a little bit awkward.

Jo was glad for the small talk while they ate, it was nice to be able just to unwind after the long drive, let her mind relax as she took in the fresh air and the good company.

She could see why Nicola and Paul were friends, they were very similar in temperament, and had the same slightly strange sense of humour. If she didn't know any better she'd have assumed that they were a couple, they looked that at ease around each other.

Marcia and Dani couldn't keep their hands to themselves, even when eating, and Marcia loved her food, so she must really care for Dani, although it wasn't a surprise that they ended up together, they were also very well matched.

"When are the rest of your friends showing up, Dani?" Jo asked, as she took the last few bites of her sausages, trying not to look like a wild creature eating.

"They're not coming." Dani shrugged. "Danielle's still home in Australia, and Carla and Maxine decided that they didn't want to come, they're just going to do their own thing."

Jo was both a little disappointed and a little relieved that there weren't more people coming this weekend. Although she didn't really know Esta's friend, Sera, so that would be enough socialising with new people for her. Especially since things hadn't quite worked out the way that she'd planned them.

But it was all going to be fine, she could manage sharing a tent with Kevin and Stoffel for a few nights, since she was going to be living with them full time once they got back to uni.

*

"I've got a surprise," Nicola said, as she rooted around in her bag. Jo wasn't sure what she was going to find in there, but when she pulled out quite a large black box, with familiar white lettering, Jo's heart sank.

She hated Cards Against Humanity, it always ended badly for her, the combination of embarrassment and awkwardness fighting it out to see which would crack first.

But everyone else seemed to love it, so she was going to have to play along. Kevin handed her a beer, and she had never been happier that he decided to pack alcohol instead of his tent. She pulled her hoodie around her, she was starting to get cold now that the sun was setting, and watched on with envy as Marcia and Nicola cuddled into Dani and Paul. Jo thought about moving round to get a hug from Kevin, he loved hugs, but she didn't want to make things any more awkward, especially since that would leave Stoffel as the odd one out, so she shuffled closer to the fire and prepared for the worst that those evil little cards could throw at her.

The cards had all been dealt out, and Jo looked on in horror at some of her cards, but it was fine because she was getting to be the judge first, she just had to pick one at random and declare it the winner.

_I drink to forget _______._

The first black card didn't seem too bad, and she was sure that it wouldn't create too many inappropriate answers. Jo took all the cards that were handed to her, shuffling them carefully before laying them out on the ground.

She laughed at some of them, and there was one that was clearly meant for Kevin, so that had to be the winner.

"Alcoholism?" Jo said, and she watched Kevin smile, of course it was his card.

The others groaned and Kevin cheered, Stoffel noting down the points as Jo started worrying about what the next card out of the box would be.

It all seemed to be relatively tame, until Jo ended up being the judge again, which meant that she was going to have to read out the filthy cards. But nothing was too bad, so she took a deep breath and steadied herself so that she wouldn't blush. Each round she picked not what was funniest, or filthiest, but what she thought that she could read out without getting flustered.

Jo was starting to feel that she was going to get through a whole game without dying of embarrassment, until she ended up being judge again. And this round, they were all disgusting.

_How did I lose my virginity?_

Jo cast her eyes over the answers, until she saw the card that read 'incest' and she felt her stomach turn. But that was what people would think was funny? Wouldn't they? Unless one of the twins had played the card, and then it would be just disgusting again.

The other answers weren't much better – _The Make-a-Wish Foundation_ , _Revenge fucking_ , and, _Necrophilia._

Jo's mind sighed, she was looking around hoping that someone, anyone, would give her some clue as to what she could pick that was the least objectionable. But they were no help, they were all staring at her expectantly, and she knew that she had to pick one.

So, it was a choice of picking what wasn't funny, or what was clearly taboo.

"Incest?" Jo said, she wasn't sure why it all came out sounding like a question. In the end she'd picked it just because she wanted to know who had played it.

"Yes! I win!" Kevin shrieked, and the look of disgust that Marcia was hiding with laughter made Jo regret her choice. Although Kevin winning meant that it was all over, and she was free to leave.

"Kevin! You're disgusting!" Marcia shrieked, and the family resemblance was strong as they started to shove each other, ending with Kevin falling off the log that he was sitting on.

"I'm going for a walk." Jo pulled her hoodie around her face and headed for the toilets, she just needed to be out of this situation, and that was the perfect reason. It wasn't until she got closer to the small toilet block that she realised there was someone calling her name.

She turned around, and Stoffel was walking behind her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, fine." Jo knew that Marcia would see straight through her, she never said she was fine when she actually felt okay, but she was hoping that Stoffel wouldn't notice.

"Not your sort of game?" Stoffel smiled, he'd been quiet throughout most of the game too.

"Not really." Jo fidgeted with the cords of her hoodie, she could still feel her cheeks burning after having to read out all those things.

"Want to go for a walk round the lake before bed?" Stoffel asked, holding out his hand for Jo to take.

"Sure, that sounds nice."

*

Jo had a lovely time walking around the lake, the moon shimmering across its surface as the trees rustled in the wind. Stoffel put his arm around her shoulders, which must have been awkward considering she was taller than him, but it was nice to have his warm body pressed close to hers.

She wanted to reach out and put her hand around his waist but she wasn't sure if that was too much, and her hands were warm in her pockets, so she stayed as she was, hopefully there would be a next time for her to do that. Although with the way things were working out, she was going to get to spend a lot of time with Stoffel over the next year, so she didn't want to do anything to make him feel uncomfortable.

They got back to the campsite as the fire was little more than a few glowing embers, wisps of smoke drifting on the breeze, and the unmistakable sound of two people having sex nearby.

*

Marcia couldn't believe how quickly things were moving with Dani, but she loved it, all this time of being just friends, pretending that she didn't have feelings for her. No-one apart from Kevin knew, and she was glad that he'd set them up, although even if he hadn't, this trip would have been the perfect opportunity.

There were frantic kisses as they lay next to each other, they'd unzipped their sleeping bags so they could use them like blankets and so they could press their bodies together when they were wearing little more than their underwear.

Dani's pouty lips were like heaven pressed up to her own, her little gasps as Marcia's fingers found their way to her breasts, their legs intertwined as Dani grabbed her rear, kissing at her neck as she rubbed against her, and Marcia reciprocated.

Neither cared that everyone could hear what they were up to, and Marcia gave it only a cursory thought that Kevin might be awake, although thankfully he had fallen asleep, already softly snoring.

Marcia felt the warm, fuzzy feeling of her impending orgasm, her knickers were soaking wet as they rubbed against Dani's leg, and she could feel that Dani was the same. She cried out loud as she came, Dani groaning as she shuddered with her climax, and Marcia kissed her with sloppy swipes of her lip, too tired for much more, but she wanted Dani to know that she was loved.

"That was amazing," Dani whispered, and Marcia could only make satisfied little sounds in response, unable to catch her breath after such a dizzying orgasm.

She held Dani close, the softness of her hair tickling at her neck as she curled in as they drifted off to sleep, happy that they had finally admitted their feelings for each other, and that the beautiful creature lying next to her was her girlfriend.


	3. Joy

Jo woke up to the feeling of being slightly squashed, and when she opened her eyes she saw why. Kevin was draped over her, his leg pushing down on her stomach and his arm draped over her throat. She rolled him over, and he proceeded to cuddle in to Stoffel who looked quite happy at the idea of someone hugging him while he slept, although would he be happy when he saw who it was? Jo laughed to herself before sneaking out of the tent in search of the toilets, and enough firewood to boil water for everyone's cup of coffee.

Even though Marcia seemed happy with her new girlfriend, Jo knew that she was often grumpy in the mornings if she didn't get her coffee, and she didn't want Dani to have to see that yet. That was something that should be saved for later in the relationship, once Dani was ready to see all of Marcia's quirks.

Jo was filing up the large water canister from the lake when she heard footsteps behind her, and she looked up to see Paul walking up to her, wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt. The sun was thinking about making an appearance but it had been a cool cloudless night, and there was dew adorning the grass.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Paul said, and Jo shook her head to say that it was nothing. Her hands were full with the water canister, and she wasn't quite up to talking this early in the morning, although she hadn't expected to see anyone else.

"It's okay." Jo said, as Nicola strode up to the lake, stripping off her clothes and handing them to Paul before walking into the cool water as though it was a heated swimming pool, not a care in the world. She was so beautiful, and Jo was glad that she wasn't the only one staring, but did that mean that Nicola and Paul had something going on? Was she cheating on Esta?

Jo didn't like where her thoughts were taking her and she hurried to put the lid on the container before dragging it up to the campsite, luckily it wasn't far. She looked back to see Paul getting undressed and joining Nicola in the water for an early morning swim.

When she got back up to their camp, she saw Marcia and Dani peering into the tent that Kevin and Stoffel were sleeping in, and they were taking photos and giggling quietly.

"What are you two up to?" Jo whispered, but she should have known, Marcia just wanted to play a prank on Kevin, although Jo was sure that he must have shared a bed with Stoffel at some point in the past. And sharing a bed with Kevin meant hugs, no matter where he was when he fell asleep, he always found his way to be as close as he could to whoever he shared the bed with. Including Marcia, although they were very close for siblings, even twins, although Jo thought that it was nice, having someone who loved them unconditionally, uncomplicated by romance.

Marcia snorted in laughter and Stoffel woke with a jolt, which Jo felt bad about, it now looked like she was part of this when she wasn't. She was going to apologise when Stoffel kissed Kevin's forehead, and he reached out for Stoffel's hand.

"Some of us didn't get much sleep last night," Stoffel said, "But I think you guys had more fun than us."

Dani blushed and Marcia just laughed, waking Kevin who looked like a toddler about to cry because his nap time had been disturbed.

"I'm going to put the coffee on," Jo said, frowning at Marcia.

"I love you," Kevin said, as Jo walked towards the remains of last night's fire, she wasn't sure who Kevin was saying it to, although from the tone of voice it probably wasn't his sister.

It didn't take long to get the fire going, and the water boiling, and the second that the word coffee was mentioned, Kevin shot out of the tent, cup in hand as he zombie shuffled towards the fire.

Stoffel wasn't far behind, and he sat next to Jo, close but not close enough and Jo felt herself yearning to close the gap, lean in so that their bodies were touching, but she wasn't brave enough. So they sat near to each other, Jo feeling the distance as though they were miles rather than millimetres away.

Marcia was holding Dani tight, scared that if she let go of her she'd disappear, and there was no sign of Nicola and Paul. Although Jo wasn't sure that she wanted to go down to the lake and see what they were up to. If nothing else, she was a really bad liar, and if she saw something she would have to tell Esta when she arrived tonight. Jo just wanted a quiet holiday, and she would worry about everything else once uni started back in a couple of weeks' time.

Breakfast cooked while they all sipped at their coffees. Nicola and Paul appeared just in time for food, although that was Nicola's party trick. Even when she was asleep she would wake up for food, it was a definite skill that she had.

Nicola was drying her hair, wearing just knickers and a t-shirt with no bra underneath. Paul was just behind her, clean and dry with his clothes back on.

"So, what does everyone want to do today?" Jo asked, although she'd be happy doing not much, but there was a lot of things nearby, including a waterfall that sounded interesting. Jo had never got to see a waterfall up close and she was intrigued by the idea.

"We should all walk up to the waterfall, apparently it casts rainbows when the sun is at its peak." Stoffel took out his map and started looking at the little notes that were stuck to it with lots of numbers on them. "That gives us until two forty-seven this afternoon, if we want to see it in all its glory."

"How far away is it?" Marcia asked, and Jo could already see her mentally preparing for a nice quiet day here around the campsite.

"Just over four miles, it shouldn't take us more than an hour and a half to get there, maximum," Stoffel said, and Jo looked around to see Nicola pulling on her walking boots, ready for the trek to the waterfall. Paul would no doubt follow if she went, from what she'd seen already. So it was a question of if Marcia would want to go, or stay here with Dani.

"It sounds so cool," Dani said, and Jo could see Marcia smile, she'd do anything as long as Dani was there by her side.

"Are you coming, Kevin?" Stoffel asked, and Kevin yawned in response.

"I'm going to chill out, maybe have a nap." Kevin poured himself another cup of coffee and Jo wondered how he could sleep so much when he drank so much coffee.

"Come on, you don't want to stay here all alone." Stoffel was trying, but Jo knew that face on Kevin, he'd made up his mind and there was nothing that anyone could say or do that would make him change it.

"Have fun without us," Marcia said, and Kevin just laughed, heading towards their tent with his coffee cup in hand.

*

Jo had organised all the snacks and drinks, with a little help from Stoffel, and made sure that she had everything she needed for an emergency, even though they weren't going far and someone could always run back to the campsite and get anything that they needed.

But Jo liked to be prepared, and it helped her relax if she knew that she had things for every eventuality. Although the odds of her ever having to use any of it were slim.

Marcia held Dani's hand for the entire walk, and Jo ended up walking beside Stoffel. The path was only really wide enough for two, so it had made everyone fall in line, which was fine for the couples, but it meant that things were a little bit awkward between Jo and Stoffel.

Their walk last night had been nice, but they were still really nothing more than friends of friends, even though they had got to know a little bit about each other. That would probably move their relationship into the 'friends' category, but it was still a long way from what Jo had been thinking about last night as she lay near Stoffel, separated only by Kevin and his snoring.

Jo had wondered what it would be like to have Stoffel as her boyfriend. She'd never dated anyone before, although she'd had crushes on people from time to time. Including Marcia, but that had been infatuation rather than attraction.

Stoffel kept glancing at his watch, although they had plenty of time, and Jo hoped that it was as impressive as it all sounded. Not that the walk wasn't nice, but everyone else was talking except them, and she didn't know what to say, so that magical rainbow waterfall would give them something to talk about on the way back to the campsite.

The rush of water got louder and louder the closer they got to the waterfall, it sounded impressive, but nothing could have prepared them for the sight of all the water rushing down into the pool below. There was already small rainbows reflecting out of it and Jo knew that once the sun was at the right angle it would look spectacular.

"It's so pretty," Nicola said, and Paul mumbled something in her ear. Probably 'it's not as pretty as you'. Jo was definitely starting to worry about how close they were, but hopefully once Esta arrived tonight, normal service would be resumed. Nicola and Esta were both very tactile with each other, so maybe it wasn't a surprise that Nicola was that way with her friends. Kevin was the same with anyone that he considered a close friend, always happy to hold hands and hug.

Jo was sure that she shouldn't be judging her, they were friends, but she'd definitely seen a different side of Nicola on holiday.

"Is there time for lunch before the rainbow display?" Marcia asked, and Jo looked at Stoffel who nodded.

Jo found out the blanket, and laid it out on a flat bit of ground by the waterfall. The grass was lush and there was space for everyone to sit as she handed out the snacks, just glad that it was a nice temperature and the trees were doing their job by shading them from the worst of the midday sun.

Now that they could all talk to each other it was more relaxed, Jo got all the details about how Kevin set Marcia and Dani up on a date by giving them some alone time, and Nicola congratulated them both. It seemed like most of the girls on the football team had someone, and Jo was the only one who was still single.

Jo wasn't sure why it bothered her, but she knew why it was bothering her now. Stoffel, with his nice smile and his soft voice, and the fact that he was quiet but not shy, all of it had Jo falling head over heels for him, and it didn't hurt that he was achingly handsome.

Stoffel glanced at his watch. "Five minutes to go." He had a smile on his face and Jo couldn't help but smile back, hoping that no-one noticed the slight blush on her cheeks.

As the time drew nearer, the rainbows intensified until it felt like everything around them had rainbows shining out of them, it was so beautiful that they tried to capture it in a photograph, but they all showed it as just a waterfall, surrounded by ordinary, non-rainbow glowing trees.

The rainbows were blinding as the sun was high above them, Marcia shielded her eyes from the glare, and that was when she saw it – there was something behind the waterfall.

She started to wander towards it, her vision clouded with rainbows as she tried to find a way round to the side of the waterfall. It wasn't a big drop, and there was a pool at the bottom to break her fall, but she didn't want to waste any time, she had to see what was hiding behind it.

The others started to follow her, transfixed by the way the rainbows seemed to be shining out of the waterfall, drawing them closer with their beautiful light.

Marcia slipped behind the waterfall, and the roar of the water disappeared as she waited for her eyes to adjust so that she could see the small lake that was hiding there.

Its water glowed as though it was lit by moonlight and Marcia could only hear the soft sound of it lapping at the edge of the rocks. Marcia stood mesmerised, her eyes drawn to the water and she sat down by the edge of the lagoon, rushing to take off her boots so that she could dip her toes in the water.

She took a deep breath before dipping her toes in, the water was so warm and comforting and she wanted to swim in it. Marcia found herself stripping off her clothes, leaving only her underwear on as she took tentative steps into the water.

"It's so warm, you have to join me," Marcia said, and everyone glanced at each other before leaving their clothes on the warm rocks, they were surprisingly dry considering that they were surrounded by water on both sides.

Dani was the first in, joining Marcia and splashing her. Even in droplet form the water seemed to glow in the light, catching the eye and intriguing everyone to join them.

Nicola smiled before taking off her clothes, leaving on only her knickers, although from the angry red lines that her bra had left on her, Jo didn't blame her. Paul stumbled out of his jeans, almost tripping over as he hurried to get undressed.

It left just Jo and Stoffel standing by the edge of the water, both still fully dressed and Jo wasn't sure if she wanted everyone to see her like this. She was on holiday and she hadn't bothered to shave since before the exams. It was at times like this that she wished she had Marcia's fine blonde hair, then she'd never have to shave and no-one would notice.

Marcia swam up to the edge of the little lake, and when Jo thought that she was going to speak, she put her hand out and dragged Jo in. The splash sent water flying everywhere, and when Jo resurfaced everyone was laughing, even Stoffel who was trying not to.

Jo scowled at Marcia, too angry to talk to her, although it did save the decision of whether she should get undressed or not. Stoffel took his shoes and watch off before stepping into the pool, still dressed, and Jo felt a little better about it all, even though she was going to be mad at Marcia for a little while, she'd forgive her before they got back to the campsite.

The lake was deep, and Jo took her shoes off before they dragged her down, she was glad that she had a spare pair of shoes in her bag.

"Enjoying yourself now?" Nicola asked Jo, and she had to force a smile, although Stoffel had made it all bearable, but she wasn't going to tell everyone that, since she could feel herself starting to blush.

"Yes." Jo was sure that she didn't sound like she was having fun, but Stoffel ran his fingers through his hair, making it all stand up on end so that he looked funny, and Jo laughed before rushing in to play with his hair, rearranging it into different styles as the others laughed.

Stoffel ducked his hair under the water, shaking it out as he resurfaced and splashing everyone as they shrieked and groaned. It turned into a full blown splash war, and it made Jo feel like a kid again, swimming in the sea with her siblings, messing around and relaxing.

It was all nice until Nicola yelled, "Oh fuck! My glasses." She was looking around but it was no use, Jo knew how short-sighted she was without them.

"Did you bring your spares?" Jo asked, she was back in mum mode, looking after everyone again.

"Yes…"

Jo could hear the but coming, and she knew that they would be back at the campsite, that she wouldn't have thought to bring them on a short walk, electing to bring sweeties instead. "But not with you."

"Yes." Nicola pulled a funny face in apology and shrugged.

"How deep do you think the lagoon is?" Paul asked, and he looked thoughtful, his engineer's mind trying to work out if he could go looking for them.

Jo took a deep breath before letting herself sink to the bottom of the lagoon, when her toes touched she was still amazed by how warm the stone was, and she stretched up her arms trying to see if they could break the surface of the water. In the end she could feel someone's knee, she couldn't tell whose since she had her eyes shut. She'd never mastered the art of keeping her eyes open underwater.

She was gasping as she burst to the surface, and from the way Stoffel was looking at her, with a blush on his cheeks, Jo was sure that it had been his knee that she was groping.

"It's ten or so feet deep. Who can keep their eyes open underwater?" Jo asked, and she wasn't sure if anyone had that skill.

"I'll do it," Paul said, and Nicola smiled at him. It took a few attempts but eventually he came up holding Nicola's glasses, presenting them to her like was proposing to her.

Nicola put them back on, blinking as everything came back into focus and giving Paul a big hug.

"You should see what else is down there," Paul said, once Nicola had released him from the hug, "There's lots of gemstones down there."

Paul took two stones out of his pocket, one sparkled as though there was lighting trapped inside it, and the other one almost looked like grey clouds forming.

Dani took a deep breath and dived down, brushing against Jo's legs as she swam down to the bottom. She reappeared with two stones before handing one to Marcia, it almost looked like it was vibrating the way that in glinted in the light. Dani's looked more ordinary, but she held it tight. "It feels so cold."

Jo was surprised about that, everything in here seemed to be warm, the rocks surrounding them and the water itself. She reached out to touch the stone that Dani was holding, a pale shimmery blue like ice, and it felt cold to its core. Although there were some materials that took a lot longer to heat up, so maybe it was one of those.

She couldn't imagine that this place stayed warm overnight, it must be warmed by the sun, so some of the stones would never get long enough to heat up before it got cold again.

Jo wanted one, but she didn't want to open her eyes, so she was going to sink to the bottom and just grab what she could, hoping that she would get something as pretty as the others.

Stoffel watched Jo disappear so quickly that his first thought was that Jo was in trouble and he dived down, forcing his eyes open, when he saw that Jo was feeling around for stones at the bottom of the lagoon. He saw one, lilac and glowing like the others, which seemed perfect for Jo and he pushed in the direction of her hand, before his eye was caught by a stone that looked like a wormhole from a sci-fi film.

When he resurfaced, the sight of Jo smiling at her stone made him happy, and he held out his to show her, it looked like a whole universe had been trapped in the gemstone.

"They're all so pretty," Marcia said, still admiring hers.

"Do you think we should take them?" Dani asked, although from the way she was looking at the gemstone, she probably just wanted someone to tell her that it was all okay.

"If we only take one, that's not going to do any harm," Marcia said, and Dani nodded. They all put their stones at the edge of the lagoon before climbing out.

Jo shook, sending water flying as she tried to make herself a little less wet, well, her clothes were a little less wet. The sight of Stoffel in just his boxers, wringing out his clothes, was more arousing than she would have thought possible. His skin looked so soft and smooth, and the way he smiled sent shivers through her body.

She scrambled to get into the spare change of clothes that she had brought with her, she didn't mind the girls seeing her, they shared a locker room and showers all the time at training. Although she was going to have to get used to Stoffel seeing more of her, since they were going to be living together once they got back.

Jo felt sorry for Stoffel, and she offered him the towel so that he could dry his hair. In the end Stoffel wore only his boxers and a t-shirt to walk back down to the campsite, although they hadn't seen anyone else in the entire time that they had been up here.

By the time they got back to the camp, Esta and Sera were sitting chatting to Kevin, and Nicola ran up to Esta, giving her a huge hug and kissing her sloppily as though they hadn't seen each other in ages.

Jo felt so happy that everyone was finally here, and that Esta was around to make things less awkward with Paul. If Esta was cool with it all then Jo would be fine with it.

Once she'd said hi to everyone, and told Kevin that he really missed out by sleeping all day to which he just laughed at, she grabbed some clean clothes and headed down to the lake to get washed.

She'd left her wet clothes drying by the fire, alongside Stoffel's and the cool water of the lake felt strange after so long spent in the warm water this afternoon. Even though she had been walking for a lot of the day, her muscles didn't feel tired, and her hair felt soft and silky, but she couldn't remember when she last washed it, or brushed it.

Considering it was tangled with even the lightest breeze it was a bit strange, but at least it was behaving while she was on holiday. She was so enthralled by how good that she felt that she didn't hear Stoffel walking into the lake to join her, until he was almost next to her.

Jo let out a little shriek, covering her mouth with her hand before realising that other things were on display and moving her hands to cover them. She blushed and Stoffel looked away while she waded a little further into the lake, making sure that the water was high enough to cover everything.

"I'm sorry," Stoffel said, he bit his lip and Jo was sure that he was thinking the same thing as her. It was a strange new feeling for her, having someone interested in her, and she wasn't sure what to do about it. The one person she would normally ask for advice was Marcia, but she was wrapped up in her new relationship, and Jo didn't want to deprive her of that. Not when she'd waited so long for it.

It was nice just swimming with Stoffel, and after a little while she didn't care that they were both naked, it was all so relaxing. They ended up chasing after each other, swimming in circles as they chatted away about their day.

"I'm glad that I came on this trip," Stoffel said, "I was worried that I'd spend the entire time looking after Kevin."

Jo laughed, she had been worried about the same thing; that she'd end up playing babysitter all holiday. "This holiday's turned out to be more fun that I thought it would be."

"Good." Stoffel moved in closer, the water swishing around him and Jo compressed her lips, trying to keep herself from lunging in and grabbing Stoffel, all she wanted was to hold his body close to hers.

Everything was peaceful and calm, the perfect setting for a first kiss, and then there was a piercing scream and the sound of Marcia getting closer while she was yelling.

"Jo! We need a first aider. Now."

Jo shot out of the water, throwing on her nightie as she ran, not caring about what sort of a show she must have been putting on for Stoffel. Although when she looked back, he was wearing only his boxers, and he seemed equally worried about the situation.

She ran up to the camp to see that Kevin was laying out by the fire, he looked unconscious and she was glad that she'd brought the car with her right now.

"He threw up in the tent, and then when he stumbled out he collapsed," Dani said, she was holding Marcia tight as she knelt down next to her brother.

Jo checked his pulse, it was there but it was faint, and when she listened to see if he was breathing, she could feel his warm breath against her cheek, just.

"He's breathing," Jo said, and Marcia let out a sob before yelling something at him. Jo was too worried about Kevin to deal with Marcia too and she was glad that Dani was there for her. She ended up putting Kevin into the recovery position for him to sleep it off, leaving Marcia and Dani to watch over him while she went to clean out the tent, although from the state of it they might be better just sleeping under the stars tonight.

It took her a while to wipe the outside of the sleeping bags, but at least they were dry inside, and she washed the lining of the tent in the lake, before propping it up near the fire to dry, but not too close, she didn't want any more disasters this evening.

Stoffel rounded up all of Kevin's alcohol and locked it in the boot of the car, although there wasn't much left, but no-one wanted a repeat of this. It was too close a call, as much as Kevin was annoying when he drank, she never wanted anything bad to happen to him.

Just as Jo was starting to feel sleepy, Stoffel put his arm around her, holding her close, and warmth of his body was so comforting. She thought about suggesting that they try and put the tent back together, but Marcia and Dani had already gone to sleep for the night, and Nicola and her friends had gone down to the lake for a little late night skinny dipping. So, someone had to stay and watch Kevin, and Jo was so comfortable that she wouldn't have wanted to move anyway.

*

Nicola hadn't felt so good in a long time, the warm water and the freedom to relax this afternoon had done wonders for her, although now that Esta was here she was going to have to watch how she acted around Paul. She didn't like how Jo had been looking at them, although she knew that she was worried for Esta, she seemed the sort of person who looked out for everyone, and she didn't want to put Jo in an awkward situation.

Although with the four of them naked in the water, Esta and Sera splashing Paul as they frolicked in the water, she was starting to wonder how bad it would be if she just told Esta that she used to date Paul, long ago, when they were in high school, and that they had ended up at the same university by accident.

She wasn't sure if Esta would just think that she was trying to break up with her, or if she would understand that it was possible for Nicola to be friends with an ex. Nicola knew that she was the only person that Esta had dated, so she didn't have any exes, friends or otherwise that she would be able to relate this to.

In the end, Nicola decided that it was probably best if she didn't tell Esta, it was all in the past anyway. And it didn't matter who she'd dated in the past, all that mattered was that she loved Esta now, loved her with every atom of her body.

Nicola swam up to Esta as quietly as she could before sneaking in kisses as she splashed Paul and Sera, Nicola's talented hands trying to distract her. Esta spun round for a kiss, their bodies pressed together, but she didn't let on that Nicola was fingering her, coming quietly with a gasp that Nicola kissed away, drowned out by the sound of water splashing around them, their friends trying to dampen their little display of affection, and failing.

*

The next morning Kevin woke up looking all fresh and angelic, and not at all like he'd passed out drunk in front of the fire. He looked at the bits of tent and sleeping bags lying around with confusion, before stumbling towards the little toilet block near the lake.

Kevin passed the four naked bodies huddled together under the first rays of sunshine, peeking over the horizon over all the pale and golden skin. Nicola and Esta were holding each other, with Paul and Sera on either side, although the way that Paul was holding Nicola, that was going to cause problems, he could tell.

It seemed like he was the expert on bad relationships, although he didn't really have a lot of experience with them himself, but it seemed he was the guy everyone wanted to talk to about their own relationship problems, which given how much time he spent in pubs, that wasn't a surprise.

Kevin got a blanket for them all, even though the sun was out it wasn't quite warm yet, although they all had each other to keep them warm. By the time he got back to the campsite, Stoffel was awake, with Jo softly snoring, asleep on his lap as Stoffel ran his fingers through her hair.

It was unkind, but Kevin's first thought was – _am I going to have to live with two couples next year?_ Before he remembered that Dani had to live with the girls on her scholarship so she wasn't allowed to live with them.

Although he couldn't imagine Jo or Stoffel being really affectionate in public, so he didn't have to worry about coming home to them having sex on the sofa, his sister on the other hand, he wouldn't put it past her.

Kevin shuddered with the thought of that, before sitting down next to Stoffel, winking at him as he nodded at Jo.

"Finally found the courage to make your move?" Kevin said, unaware that Jo was awake, and listening to them. She had to fight to keep a smile off her face as she heard Stoffel tell Kevin everything that he liked about her, and she was surprised, more than anything, that he'd even noticed her. Jo had always thought of herself as the quiet one, although now that she'd got to know Stoffel, she'd realised that he was a quiet one too, so, they were perfect for each other.

*

The rest of the holiday flew by, and Jo was a little sad to be leaving it all behind, she'd still not got a kiss from Stoffel. She knew that once classes started she wasn't really going to have time for dates, or anything like that, so she'd wanted to make the most of it, but they would have time, especially now that they were going to be living together.

Jo ended up making one journey to take Nicola and friends to the bus station, before going back to pick everyone else up, and preparing herself for the long journey back to the city, and back to real life.


	4. Discovery

Jo couldn't believe that uni was back in full swing already, they'd barely got a chance to unpack and classes were starting again. At least Stoffel had settled in at the flat, although she'd not really seen much of him considering that they were living together.

She was still working as a teaching assistant while studying herself, so that took up a lot of her time. But she'd seen a lot more of Dani lately, she was always here, although Jo wouldn't be surprised if there was a rule in the conditions of her scholarship that forbade her from dating, or dating a woman at least.

Jo had just got home after a full day of classes, and the flat was eerily quiet, which meant that Marcia and Kevin weren't in, unless they were asleep, and it was a bit early for that, although she wouldn't put it past them.

"Hi?" Jo wasn't expecting a response, but if Kevin was home, he'd be expecting someone to cook for him. She wasn't sure how a fully grown man had never managed to learn to cook, at least enough to feed himself, but that was the way things were, and it had seemed like too much of a chore to teach him. Although they were splitting the cooking three ways now, so that made things a little better.

"Hey." Stoffel was home, and Jo felt happy, she'd finally get a little bit of time with him, alone.

Jo dumped her bag in her room, before heading for the kitchen to make a cup of tea. When she got there Stoffel was standing by the kettle, cups neatly arranged and ready to be filled.

"Tea?" He asked, as though there was any doubt as to why Jo was here.

"Always." Jo smiled at him, she felt nervous and she wasn't sure why. She fidgeted with a stray curl of hair, it had escaped from her plait, and she twirled it in her fingers.

"I was thinking risotto for dinner," Stoffel said, looking through the fridge at what food they had. There were a few veggies, enough to add to the rice, and Jo was sure that there was frozen vegetables to bulk it out if needed.

"Do you want a hand with it?" Jo asked, happy just to spend the time with Stoffel, but he shook his head. He made the tea, and a coffee for himself, before putting it down on the table and pulling out a chair for Jo.

"Sit, drink your tea." Stoffel winked at her before getting to work making dinner, it was nice to chat, they'd only been back for just over a week and already the assignments were building up.

Jo felt a lot calmer about it all this year, and she was sure that it was because of Stoffel, having someone else in the flat that was a responsible adult was definitely taking some of the pressure off her.

Although Kevin seemed to have sobered up this year, the fact that it was their final year meant that he was taking it all more seriously, which Jo wasn't going to complain about. And it was lovely to see Marcia so happy, and having Dani to study with. Even though they were doing different courses, a lot of Dani's study techniques were helping Marcia, and just having someone to support her seemed to be working wonders.

Dinner was ready as Marcia and Kevin got home, the four of them chatting away as they ate, and Jo was glad that the stress of final year wasn't getting to them yet.

*

Nicola was sipping her hot chocolate, she'd found that she didn't seem to need her comfort food like she used to. Although the year was still young, and she was sure that by the time finals came round she'd ben in McDonald's every day, for her stress relief with fries on the side.

Esta looked adorable as she blew on the foam of her latte, waiting for it to cool so that she could drink it. She nibbled on her biscuit, but Nicola could see the worry on her face. Nicola wanted to ask what was wrong, but she knew it was all the course work that was already building up, combined with the fact that she was having to do placements at the same time as her assignments.

Nicola wished that there was something she could do to help Esta, but this was the best that she could do, giving her a little break between work and going home to study.

The coffee and the cake seemed to be doing their job, and Esta was starting to smile, when a familiar face appeared, wandering up to them.

"Hi, how are you doing?" Paul gave Nicola a hug, and Esta fought to keep the scowl off her face.

"Good, how are you?" Nicola motioned to the empty seat at their table and Paul sat down.

"Good, the stress of the year hasn't caught up with me yet," Paul said, laughing as Nicola nodded, fidgeting with her glasses. Was she fluttering his eyelashes at him? Esta didn't like those thoughts, jealousy wasn't her thing, but with how little time her and Nicola were going to get together this year, she was already starting to worry that Nicola would get bored of her always being busy.

Nicola slurped down the last of her hot chocolate as Paul nodded at it, before asking, "Do you want another?"

"Sure," Nicola said, they still had time before Esta needed to head home. She didn't see the flicker of unhappiness on Esta's face.

Paul returned with two giant coffees, and a huge bit of cake with two forks. That didn't sit right with Esta, and she knew that Paul was just a friend, but it felt like he was trying to take Nicola away from her. It was bad enough that work was doing it, but to have someone else vying for her affection - that had awoken the green eyed monster inside her.

Esta knew that she had to get home, luckily there was leftovers that she could microwave, and then she had at least six hours' worth of assignments to get done tonight, before spending a full day at work for her placement tomorrow.

"I'm going to head home, I need to get work done," Esta said, and Nicola went to grab her bag but she stopped her. "You stay here, I'm just going to be doing assignments all night."

Nicola gave Esta a kiss, and Esta tried to memorise every little thing, suddenly aware that the end of their relationship seemed to be looming. They'd never talked about what they were going to do after they graduated, not in terms of them as a couple. But there never seemed to be a right time to discuss it all, so it hadn't been mentioned, and now Esta was starting to regret that.

As she left, Nicola and Paul were laughing away, Paul feeding Nicola cake, and Esta felt tears well up in her eyes, but she couldn't worry about it. She had to focus on uni, even if that meant losing Nicola in the process.

*

"Tell us all about them," Carla said, and Dani knew that she wasn't going to be able to dodge the questions any longer.

"Is he cute?" Maxine asked, Dani forgot how young she was, she'd been accepted early into the scholarship, even though she should be just leaving high school, Maxine was starting her final year at uni.

If it was just Carla, she'd probably tell her all about Marcia, but with Maxine and Danielle here too, Dani was sure that she was just going to have to play along and answer questions about her 'boyfriend'.

"Very cute," Dani said, although that was the truth, Marcia was so adorable, from the way she yawned to the way that she fidgeted with her hair, and her smile was just so beautiful, it made her look like an angel that had fallen from heaven.

Dani told them everything, mostly, trying desperately to avoid any pronouns, but she was sure that she'd referred to Marcia as 'he' a few times over the evening. But she just didn't want any trouble with the girls, she just had to make it through this year, get her degree, and then she could worry about everything else.

***

Jo had felt a lot better than she had in a long while, she'd been lucky this year and none of the bugs going round at the start of the year had affected her. Until now.

She felt like she was feverish, but it was almost intermittent, and she'd checked to see if the heating in the flat was on, but it was still off since they'd had a fairly mild October. Jo couldn't believe that it would be Halloween soon, and she guessed that it was inevitable that she would get sick at some point during the term, with the number of people she saw on a daily basis.

Jo was making herself a cup of tea, it was her cure for everything, when she felt dizzy and everything went black.

Stoffel came in to see Jo lying on the floor, her pulse weak and her breathing shallow. She was burning up, and Stoffel didn't know what to do, so he carried her to the bath, filling it with cold water before lowering her in.

Her skin was so pink and flushed, and the way her head lolled sent fear through his body. Just as he was about to call an ambulance she came to, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"How are you feeling?" Stoffel asked, he wanted to hold her hand but he didn't want her to feel any warmer.

"Better, it's just a fever." Jo reached out for Stoffel but her movements were uncoordinated and she ended up just resting her arm on the side of the bath, her soaked cardigan dripping water everywhere, but Stoffel hadn't wanted to undress her, especially if she'd needed an ambulance.

"You worried me," Stoffel said, brushing Jo's hair out of her face as she started to look more like her normal self.

"Sorry." Jo tried to sit up but only ended up sliding back down in the bath.

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault." Stoffel leant over to kiss her forehead, and her skin felt like fire against his lips. "Can I get you anything?"

"A cup of tea?" Jo wasn't sure a hot drink was really the best thing when she was feverish, but she couldn't think of anything else that would comfort her, and the cold bath seemed to be doing its job and cooling her body down.

Stoffel laughed and gave her another kiss on her forehead, he considered calling someone, but he didn't want to worry anyone else, so he went to make a cup of tea for Jo, finding out a bottle of energy drink that was in the fridge, which he made Jo drink before she was allowed her cup of tea.

Jo scrunched up her face at the taste of the energy drink, Stoffel had checked to make sure that there wasn't anything in it that might make her feel worse, but he didn't want her to get dehydrated.

Once she had her cup of tea in her hands, she looked more like herself again and Stoffel felt himself relax. It had pushed all his other worries out of his mind, including the fact that he had a ten thousand word essay due tomorrow, which apparently they'd all be told about before the summer holidays, but no-one remembered anything about it, and if they didn't do it, well, that was going to cost them some of their final grade.

So, as soon as he could make sure that Jo was okay, he was going to have to work as fast as he could, although he was confident that he could do it in five or six hours, but it wouldn't leave a lot of time for sleep.

Jo drank her tea in the bath, while Stoffel held her hand, trying to discreetly check her pulse which was much steadier now, and her skin was back to its usual pale colour. Stoffel left her to get washed, with a promise that he would be back to check on her in ten minutes. The last thing he wanted was Jo falling in the bath if she felt dizzy again.

Stoffel got her to bed, so that she could lie out in peace, covered only with a thin blanket as she washed down some painkillers with a sip of tea. "If you need anything just yell," Stoffel said, and Jo smiled, she wasn't the loud type, but just knowing that Stoffel was around was a big comfort.

"Thank you."

"Sweet dreams." Stoffel kissed her forehead again, and this time it felt cooler than his lips, which was reassuring.

Jo fell asleep with a smile on her face, her pain fading away as she heard Stoffel getting comfy in the room next to her. She'd have liked him to stay, but the thought of having someone else's warm body pressed against her own was dizzying, she just needed to be cool, and she would get her chance to curl up next to Stoffel soon.

Stoffel heard Jo put her cup down, that would be her tea finished, and hopefully it had soothed her enough that she could sleep comfortably. The cool water had done its job, and now the ibuprofen should take down the rest of the fever.

He made himself comfy, staring at his laptop screen and the blank word document, before taking a deep breath and starting to type.

Kevin and Marcia arrived home at the perfect time, just as Stoffel was checking all his references, and making sure that it was formatted according to the lecturer's instructions. Stoffel assumed that they must have been really late home, but when he checked the clock it was only half eight.

Had he really written a ten thousand word essay in just over an hour and a half? He was a fast typer, it was needed when he regularly had to type so much code, but even still that was quite impressive. But at least this way it gave him time to check it all over, make sure what he'd written actually made sense, and get a good night's sleep. He was just glad that it was Marcia's turn to cook this evening, with all the chaos he could do with a little break.

Stoffel checked on Jo, she was sound asleep, before telling Kevin and Marcia what had happened. Marcia looked worried but he reassured her, and had to stop her from going to wake Jo up, although it didn't stop Stoffel checking on Jo every hour until midnight, kissing her forehead each time, just to check that her fever wasn't getting worse again.

*

Marcia was hunting around the flat for her phone, she was sure that she'd sat it down on the coffee table, but it was nowhere to be seen. In the end she'd had to get Kevin to call it and then listen very carefully for the buzzing sound. She couldn't remember the last time that she'd actually set her phone to ring out loud.

In the end she'd found it by the sink in the kitchen, which is where she must have left it, but this was happening more and more often lately, although as the work load got higher, she knew this was going to keep happening. Stress did not bring out the best in her memory.

"Thanks, bro." Marcia grabbed a light coat, the weather had been mild lately, and headed out the door, only to see that there was snow everywhere. It was settling fast and Marcia went back inside, in search of a thicker coat and her hat and gloves, before going back out and braving the snow to meet Dani.

Dani was chewing on her nails, sitting in the coffee shop like the snow wasn't a strange occurrence, although she was from a cold country too. Marcia wanted to hug her but they didn't do that in public, she was sure that their relationship wouldn't sit well with Dani's family, or the people that had awarded her the Taurus scholarship. Although it was only a few months more, by May it would all be over, and they would be free agents, able to do whatever they wanted.

"Hi, how are you?" Marcia was sure that it was a silly question, she could see that Dani was stressed, but she didn't want to force her to talk about it if she didn't want to.

"I got a B for one of my modules." Dani shook her head, to most people it wouldn't sound like too much of a problem, but she had to get all A's to keep her scholarship. "I can get it back up with the coursework, it's only an interim grade, but Dr Marko isn't impressed."

Marcia wanted to hold her tight, tell her that it would all be okay, but she didn't have that option. "I know you can do it, I believe in you."

"Thank you, sweetie." Dani smiled, and Marcia felt a little less worried about her. It wouldn't be long until they were on holiday, which would give Dani time to perfect all of her coursework, and study for the final exams for those modules.

Marcia went to get them both coffees, and she got a small cake for Dani, knowing that it would bring a smile to her face.

*

Esta was busy at her placement and Nicola was meeting Paul for a catch up, since they both had the same afternoon off from classes. She tried to make sure that she only met up with Paul when Esta was busy, so that they got the most time together, although there wasn't much of that at the moment. But Esta's placement only ran until the winter holidays, so it wasn't for much longer.

The weather had been crazy lately, and today was no exception, the rain was falling down like tiny wet bullets that were determined to slap her as they rushed towards the ground. It wasn't a long walk to Paul's flat, but she was already soaked to the bone, and she was glad that Paul was a similar size to her, so that she could borrow some dry clothes.

Nicola knocked on his door, and when he answered, she could see the tears in his eyes. Not caring that she was soaking wet she leapt in for a hug, holding him tight as he cried. She'd managed to get the door shut but they were now crumpled in a heap on the floor, water dripping off Nicola's clothes as her glasses steamed up, but she didn't need to see to feel Paul's pain, or to comfort him.

"What's happened?" Nicola asked, when Paul seemed to be a little calmer, his breathing steady again as she stroked his back.

"My grandma, she passed away last night."

Nicola took her glasses off, they were useless now anyway, she didn't have a scrap of clothing that wasn't soaked for her to dry them on. She started kissing away Paul's tears, like she used to, and like he used to do for her, but then their lips met, nothing more than a graze, but Nicola felt the static electricity in the air, sparks were flying and she leant in for a kiss.

She was transported back to high school, the frantic kisses and sheer need, unable to keep their hands off each other and the kissed passionately until they were both breathless.

Paul broke the kiss, she could see the confusion on his face as he mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Nicola rested her forehead against Paul's, wondering how she could be so stupid. Paul was a free man, but she had a girlfriend, and Esta wouldn't be best pleased to find out. Although she was never going to find out. "I'm going to get some dry clothes, then order some pizza and then we can watch some trashy movies."

"Pirates of the Caribbean?" Paul had a little smile on his face, nothing more than a twitch of his lips but Nicola saw it. He'd picked one of her favourite movies, they must have watched it hundreds of times but it always cheered them both up, partly because it was an awesome film, and partly because it reminded them both of all the good times that they'd had together.

She slunk to the bedroom, getting changed quickly before leaving her wet clothes in the bathroom, there was no chance that they were going to dry before she left, but she didn't want to soak the carpets.

"I've ordered the pizza," Paul said, tapping away at his phone.

"Just one pizza?" Nicola raised an eyebrow, surely he knew her better than that. Unless he wasn't eating, but she wouldn't let that happen, Paul was one of the few people she honoured by sharing her food with him.

"No, two pizzas, and a small collection of sides and cola. And ice-cream." Paul smiled a little bit more, and Nicola smiled back, making herself comfy on the sofa next to him. She'd brought through the blanket from the bedroom, so that they could snuggle up together and Nicola could warm her cold skin.

"How are you coping with it all?" Nicola asked while they waited for the food to arrive, she was holding Paul's hand under the duvet, and he had cuddled into her chest. It was trapping her breast at an awkward angle but she didn't want to say anything while he was telling her all about his gran, she sounded like an amazing woman.

"She'd have loved you," Paul said, and Nicola was a little sad that she'd never got to meet her when she and Paul were dating, but Scotland was so far away. He went quiet for a minute before looking up at her, biting his lip as Nicola could see him trying to work out what he wanted to say. "Would you come with me to the funeral?"

"Of course." Nicola wondered how she was going to explain it to Esta, but she was just going to have to understand, she was sure that Esta would do the same for one of her friends, so she couldn't see why this was any different. Although Nicola knew why she felt strange about it, because of her history with Paul, but it was all in the past, and she just had to keep telling herself that.

The food arrived shortly after, and the put the film on, eating in silence as they both relaxed. The rain outside eased off and Nicola was glad that she wasn't going to get soaked all over again on the way home. As the film came to an end, Paul looked much calmer, and there were rainbows outside, brightening their afternoon.

*

Esta hadn't been impressed that Nicola was going to be away for a couple of days, with Paul. Although a funeral was hardly a romantic getaway. She'd been packing her bag when the metal zip of her rucksack had electrocuted her, it must have been her new shoes, since she was getting shocked by more and more things lately, but it was just static electricity.

She kissed Esta goodbye and headed out to the airport, rainbows everywhere as the bus trundled through traffic. When she arrived at the airport, Paul was looking calm, but she could see the sadness hiding underneath it all.

The rain in Scotland was torrential, not really surprising, but it felt like the skies were crying for Paul.


	5. Realisation

The end of term was getting close, and a lot of people had finished with their classes. Kevin had wanted to have a party, and although they all knew it was probably a bad idea, they hadn't been able to say no to those big blue eyes and that angelic smile.

"As long as you help clear up, I don't mind," Jo said to Kevin, and he only smiled a little more.

"I will."

They all knew that it was unlikely to happen, that he'd probably end up sleeping off his hangover, but he had been well behaved all term. Jo was sure that the little incident while they were away camping had scared Kevin a bit, since he'd really got his drinking under control.

"I'll invite all the girls from the team," Marcia said, although Jo wasn't sure that all of them would want to come, some of the younger girls were already planning as to which of them would take over the team next year, and it had created a little bit of friction. Jo didn't mind who took over the team, since she was going to be leaving at the end of her course, and so were a large number of the other girls. "Dani might bring the girls that she lives with too."

"I really need more friends that I don't live with," Stoffel said, and Kevin agreed, although both of them seemed quite friendly with the other people on their courses, but not close enough that they would invite them over to their flat.

"It'll be fun," Jo said, although she wasn't sure how much fun Kevin would be if this was his first drinking binge in over three months. "Nicola's bringing Esta, and Paul."

Marcia raised her eyebrow at the mention of Paul, they'd talked about it a couple of times, but it wasn't their place to meddle, even though Esta was their friend, and teammate, gossiping wasn't going to help anyone.

"It'll be fun."

*

The party was awkward, Dani's flatmates had shown up, and Marcia had given her a big hug before pulling back.

"Your skin is so cold," Marcia said, but Dani just shrugged, it was cold out and she wasn't wearing a lot of clothes.

Cards Against Humanity had made a reappearance and Jo had still ended up with all the filthiest cards to read out, which just left her blushing and squirming in her seat, unable to look Stoffel in the eye. They were well beyond pretending that they were just friends, but neither of them had made a move, everything had been so crazy lately that they hadn't found the time.

Jo glanced up to see that Esta was talking to Paul, and from the way her face was set in a scowl, it wasn't a happy conversation.

Esta wasn't happy that Paul was here, or that he was encouraging Nicola to drink, when she had a report to do this weekend. But Nicola had just told her that she was a grown up and she'd drink if she wanted to, which Paul had sided with Nicola on.

"You think siding with her will make her want to date you?" Esta said, and she could feel her body shaking as she said it, she didn't normally like confrontation, but Nicola was seeing more and more of Paul lately. She knew that it wasn't rational, that it was just jealousy, but she felt like he was trying to take Nicola away from her.

"I wouldn't date Nicola again." Paul shrugged. "We had our fun in high school but we're just friends now."

Again? Esta didn't like the sound of that, she'd never seen Nicola show any interest in guys, and she'd just assumed that she was a lesbian. Although Esta had never seen Nicola show interest in anyone but her, and yet that wasn't enough to reassure her that their relationship was stable.

Maybe Paul had just been a brief high school fling, something she felt forced into because all of her friends were dating guys? But the more that she thought about it, the more she was sure that it wasn't true. Esta had never seen Nicola do anything that she didn't want to, she didn't play games and she didn't do things just because society, or anyone else, wanted her to do it.

Esta was looking around to see where Nicola was and she saw her heading for the kitchen. She went over to talk to her and Esta was relieved when she saw that it was just the two of them, everyone else was wrapped up in the game.

"You used to date Paul?" Esta didn't mean to send judgemental, but her emotions were running high and she wasn't sure what to think about it all. Although she wasn't sure that letting it all fester would have produced any better results, so talking about it now was probably the best option.

"Yes, back in high school. But we broke up before uni, it was just coincidence that we both ended up here." Nicola downed the rest of her drink, picking at a bowl of crisps that was left out on the counter. She'd planned to stay in Germany and study, but then she got the option to study abroad and she couldn't say no. Paul had decided to go home, but then his cousin told him about the course here and he'd never thought that he would see Nicola again.

"How could you lie to me?" Esta shrieked and Nicola felt her anger rising, what did Esta care who she used to date, who she was friends with?

"I didn't lie, I just didn't mention it. They're two different things." Nicola opened another can of beer and Esta watched her down it all, no longer caring what Esta had to say about her drinking.

"Don't you see how bad it looks to me? You're always together, and laughing, and touching." Esta shook her head and tears were rolling down her face.

"I'm not the bad guy just because you're insecure," Nicola said, and she tried to stand up but everything felt strange, the hairs on her arms were standing on end but she wasn't cold.

Sparks of lightning flew out of her body and she writhed with the energy surging through her body, it felt like her skin was on fire but there was nothing that she could do to stop it. Everything faded to black as she collapsed in a heap on the kitchen floor, the sound of Esta screaming her name echoing in her ears, and then it all went quiet.

*

Nicola woke up in the hospital, Paul sitting with her and she wanted to ask where Esta was but her mouth didn't seem to want to work.

"Esta's talking to the doctors, since she knows more about you." Paul gave her hand a little squeeze, and Nicola felt tears roll down her cheeks.

Esta came in and rushed towards her, holding her tight as she talked away in Spanish, probably thanking the gods that she was okay. Nicola felt bad that she scared everyone but she had no idea what was happening, it had felt like she was being electrocuted, and yet she wasn't touching anything that could have done that to her. Had she been struck by lightning? Indoors?

"The doctors said that you had a seizure, but they scanned you and there's no sign of any damage. They think it might be caused by a spiked drink." Esta held Nicola's other hand, all the anger from earlier was long gone, replaced by concern and affection.

"I'm sorry," Nicola said, she shouldn't have got angry, lashed out, but she was angry at herself more than anything. "I need to tell you something."

The colour drained out of Esta's face and she looked so young, so innocent. She nodded as if to say carry on but Nicola could see the hesitation.

"I kissed Paul, the day that his gran died. I was comforting him and it just happened, but it didn't mean anything." Nicola looked down at her hands, Esta and Paul were her two closest friends, the people she cared about most in the world. How could she have treated them like this? "I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Esta said, she was fidgeting with her glasses and she took a deep breath. "I have something to tell you too."

Nicola's mind reeled, what could she have missed? Had she been so wrapped up in everything else, in her own guilt that she hadn't noticed Esta cheating on her? No, she wasn't like that. So, what could have happened?

"You didn't have a seizure," Esta said, "I saw it all, lightning was shooting from your body. I had to duck behind the table so it didn't get me."

"I'm sorry." Nicola couldn't stop the tears falling, she hadn't thought about the fact that the lightning was shooting out, which meant that anyone nearby could have been zapped by it.

"I know this sounds crazy, but it's what I saw." Esta rested her head on Nicola's chest, letting the tears run down onto her gown as Nicola stroked her hair.

"You're not crazy," Paul said, "There's been something strange going on ever since the camping trip."

"Has it happened to you too?" Nicola asked, trying to sit up but only managing to pull on all the cables and tubes that she was hooked up to. Esta fussed over her until she was comfy again.

"It sounds so silly, but I think I can control the weather." Paul slumped down in his seat, never letting go of Nicola's hand and she held him tight, stroking the side of his hand with her thumb. It was the most she could manage at the moment. "When I cry it rains, when I'm happy there's rainbows. The other day when I was angry, there was those gale force winds."

"Have you felt anything strange?" Nicola asked Esta, and she shook her head, although she'd been so busy with everything that she wouldn't have noticed unless it was really obvious.

"We should get the others together, see if they've noticed anything, try and figure out what's happened to us."

Nicola compressed her lips, she wasn't sure if the others would believe them, it all sounded so crazy, but they needed to work it out, especially since whatever was happening to her seemed to have such dangerous implications.

*

Jo had replaced all the fuses in the breaker box and they finally had lights, and a shower, and a working kettle, which had been Jo's number one priority.

"I'll get more fuses for the appliances tomorrow, at least they were protected from the power surge," Jo said, and the others nodded. They were munching away at the left over party food, since everyone else had left so abruptly after the ambulance had come for Nicola. Although there was nothing more that Jo could have done for her, she did CPR until the paramedics arrived, and they'd had to use the defibrillator to revive her. It was terrifying but Esta had called from the hospital to say that Nicola was conscious and talking, and the doctors had said that she was going to be okay, which was a huge relief.

Kevin had ended up holding Marcia to sleep, Dani had gone home with her flatmates, since there was no good reason for her to be staying here. Jo couldn't imagine what that was like, having to hide who you were, who you loved, out of fear that people would reject them, or worse. She was glad that her family were so accepting, although she dated so infrequently that it didn't matter that she was bisexual. As her little brother was fond of pointing out.

Jo tidied up, it was calming after all the emotions this evening. For a while, Jo had feared the worst for Nicola, and it had taken all of her self-control to put a brave face on it for everyone else. Stoffel had helped her clean up the flat, not saying a word as they put the place back in order.

By the time the place looked liveable again, Jo was exhausted, and she slumped down on to her bed, Stoffel sitting beside her as he wrapped an arm around her. She was too tired to cry, instead, she rested her head on his shoulder, allowing him to hold her tight.

They sat in silence for what felt like the longest time, until Jo finally found the words for what was running through her head. "She had electricity arcing out of her, it wasn't just a seizure. Something strange is going on."

"I know. Things have been odd for a while." Stoffel looked at her, his eyes wide and he looked so vulnerable, something that Jo had never seen before.

Jo took a deep breath, she wanted to tell him all the strange things that had been happening to her, how lights had looked strange to her, and sometimes it felt too bright, but no-one else had noticed. And temperature was a crazy mystery to her, she was often boiling when all around her were freezing. It was odd, but knowing that she wasn't alone made it all seem a little less insane.

"What's happened?" Jo asked, and as she held Stoffel's hand she could have sworn that she saw her gemstone glow. It sat by her bed, it was pretty and it made her smile when she woke up in the morning, but what if that water they had been swimming in was toxic? Radioactive even? But that was just something out of a movie, in reality it only made people sick, although the things that she had been experiencing didn't suggest that she was exactly the pinnacle of mental health right now.

"Time keeps playing tricks on me." Stoffel let out a breath that he'd been holding and Jo wanted to get comfy, rest her head on his chest. She lay back on the bed, holding the duvet up so that Stoffel could get comfy next to her. They curled together and Jo snuggled in, tickling Stoffel with her long hair and it was nice just to see him smile.

"I finished a huge essay in just an hour and a half." Stoffel ran his fingers through her hair, stroking her as he talked. "I watched all of _Kingdom Hospital_ and found that only an hour had passed, and you guys were just getting in. I thought it was just the stress of classes."

Jo nodded, she had thought the same thing, rationalising it all as just stress, the pressure of final year getting to her. "It's going to be okay, we'll work it all out."

"Don't you get tired of looking out for everyone?" Stoffel asked, and Jo had never really thought about it, she was always the responsible one, the person that everyone came to with their problems. If only she'd talked to the others about what was going on, maybe she could have done something about it. She might have been able to stop Nicola getting hurt. Jo felt tears running down her face, she'd kept it all together for everyone else, but now she was safe in Stoffel's arms she could let it all out.

"I should have told everyone, before someone got hurt." Jo buried her face against Stoffel's shoulder, drying her tears.

"It's not your fault. None of us could have expected this." Stoffel slid down so that he could kiss away her tears, his lips soft and familiar.

Jo nuzzled against him, the scratch of his stubble a contrast to his silky skin, it made her feel warm inside and she knew that she didn't want to wait any longer. All the excuses as to why she hadn't done anything about her feelings for Stoffel were pushed out of her mind, and she tilted her head so that their lips met.

She felt her whole body glow, the energy rushing through her as Stoffel deepened the kiss, letting out a moan as his hands trailed down the curve of her back. She was getting braver, her hands sliding under Stoffel's jumper and feeling all the muscles that rippled as he kissed, arching his body closer to hers.

Jo's fingers teased at the edge of his jeans, his bulge pressed against her thigh and as nice as it felt, she knew that she wanted more. She wanted rid of all this clothing that was getting in the way, to feel his skin pressed against her own, to feel him inside her.

Stoffel sat up, breaking the kiss. His hair was ruffled where Jo had ran her fingers through it and his lips were swollen and moist. He looked debauched already, and he was still fully clothed. "We don't have to do this."

Jo bit her lip, she really wanted to, but was this his way of slowing things down? She was sure that the frown lines had appeared on her face, and it wasn't quite the mood she was going for. Jo was aware that her skin was starting to glow, and it gave the whole room a pink blush.

"I want to." Jo slipped out of her dress, leaving only her underwear. Stoffel pulled off his jumper, his muscles dancing as he did it and putting on a show.

Jo went hunting for the condoms, leaving them on the side of the bed as she stared at Stoffel, waiting for him to make the next move. He scrambled out of his jeans and boxers, to anyone else it wouldn't look sexy but to Jo it looked amazing.

Stoffel's hard cock stood proud, twitching as he leant over to kiss Jo, frantic, messy kisses that left them both breathless, as Stoffel fumbled with her bra strap. He finally got it unhooked, slipping it off as he trailed kisses down the side of her neck, his lips working their way to her breasts. They fitted in his hands perfectly and he kissed each one in turn, making sure that neither felt neglected.

Jo was running her fingers through Stoffel's hair as his talented tongue circled her nipples, his hands gently caressing her as she felt herself getting wet, preparing for Stoffel's sizable cock. She let out a moan and Stoffel guided her down on to the bed, making sure that she was comfy before hooking his fingers over the elastic of her knickers and sliding them down.

He kissed along her thighs, looking up at her and Jo could have sworn that he had a halo of light around him. Stoffel ducked down to lick at her wetness, tasting her arousal, and her breathing faltered as his tongue found all the right spots, teasing at her clit until she was writhing on the bed, her back arching as he licked.

Just when she thought that she was about to come, Stoffel stopped and she whined in frustration, she wanted that feeling to last forever. The crinkle of foil sent shivers through her body and Stoffel was fumbling in the darkness, she could hear him trying and failing to get it open.

Jo didn't want to wait any longer and she reached out a hand, holding a ball of light in her palm so that Stoffel could see what he was doing. He blinked a few times, amazed by Jo's new found skill, but it didn't stop him for long. Now that he could see the little grooves, he got it open in one go, sliding it out and rolling it on to his leaking cock as Jo licked her lips in appreciation.

He knelt between her legs, the warm tip of his cock pressing against her as he ducked down for a kiss, starting into her eyes as though he was asking for permission and Jo nodded, smiling as he slid inside her, grasping at the sheets as she adjusted to him. Stoffel was biting his lip as he waited for Jo to relax, stroking the side of her face before reaching out to hold her hands, intertwining their fingers.

Stoffel rocked his hips and it all felt so good that he forgot all about the other people in the flat, he was moaning out loud, and Jo was reciprocating, matching his pace as their bodies moved as one.

Jo saw her body glowing with the energy, the rush of orgasm preparing to take over. Stoffel's face was scrunched up, he was holding her tight, his own body begging for release as they came at the same time, both moaning in pleasure as they shuddered.

Stoffel collapsed down on top of her, trying hard not to crush her as he caught his breath. He sat up to see Jo with the biggest smile on her face, calm and content as she started to doze. Jo held Stoffel's hands tight as he withdrew, it was a strange sensation and she held her breath.

Her hands were glowing as she arranged the duvet over them, waiting for Stoffel to get comfy, the used condom left lying for the morning. Later in the morning. Jo drifted off to sleep, Stoffel's warm breath on the back of her neck as he held her tight, she had never felt so safe and loved, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.


	6. Returning

Nicola had been released from the hospital that evening, with instructions to take it easy and steer clear of alcohol for a little while. She'd already called Jo and agreed that once she'd been home and got changed that she would come straight to the flat.

Jo was checking in with everyone that was on the camping trip, although given that she lived with three of them, and Marcia was dating Dani, it only meant calling Sera. She'd already heard everything from Esta, which wasn't a surprise given that they were best friends, and she was happy to come over so that they could figure everything out.

Stoffel was wandering around with a smile on his face, grinning every time that he saw Jo and she would blush in return. Marcia and Kevin had gone out to get food for everyone, they were lucky that they lived so close to a small takeaway that did a wide array of food, and for a good price.

Jo found out all the mugs that they owned, hoping that it would be enough for everyone, and boiled the kettle. She would probably have to fill it again but at least it gave her something to do, and she could use the distraction right now. Stoffel stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her before standing on his tiptoes to kiss at her neck.

"It's all going to be okay, we'll work out what's going on," Stoffel said, and Jo really hoped it was true, that there was a rational explanation for what was happening to them.

"I hope so."

"We will, some of the smartest people in the university were on that trip… and Kevin." Stoffel laughed at his own joke but he stopped when he heard the front door open, covering his smile with Jo's shoulder.

There were voices in the hall but it was more than just Marcia and Kevin, so they must have bumped into some of the others on the way over.

Jo went out to see Nicola eating chips, with Esta and Paul in tow, and Sera bringing up the rear. She ushered them all through to the living room, before going to fetch the coffee. Jo had put the kettle back on to boil as she carried the tray carefully through to them.

Dani arrived just as Jo was pouring the last of the drinks, and she accepted the warm cup of coffee with a smile on her face. Her lips were almost blue with the cold and Jo went to check that the heating was on in the flat, she didn't want anyone else getting sick today.

There was silence as everyone ate, picking at the food, all glad for something to delay the inevitable conversation that they were going to need to have.

Nicola was wolfing down pizza like it was keeping her alive and Jo couldn't imagine what she was feeling, her gift seemed relatively safe compared to Nicola's.

In the end Nicola was first to speak. "It must be some sort of mass hallucination." Trust the psychology student to say that. "I've been thinking about it and it’s the only thing that makes sense."

"So we all hallucinated the same thing, lightning shooting out of your body as you got electrocuted?" Esta said, and she stared at Nicola, waiting for a better explanation.

"She's not the only one," Stoffel said. He slowed time, he wasn't sure how long was sufficient to show them that he could do it, so in the end he went to make another coffee, but he didn't seem to be able to return time to normal until he was back in his seat, next to Jo. "See. I can slow time."

"Erm, we've just been sitting here, watching you sitting there," Esta said, and she looked at Stoffel as though he was crazy.

Jo held her hand out, waiting for a small sun to form in the palm of her hand, its light licking out at the edges as she let everyone stare. "Still a hallucination?"

Marcia reached out to touch it but she pulled her hand away as though it had been burned, sucking on her finger before looking at the little red mark that Jo's ball of light had done to her.

"Anyone else want to touch it?" Jo asked, but she was hoping that they were all convinced now.

Dani reached out, and Jo tried to hold her hand away, she didn't want anyone else burning themselves, but then she felt the sheer cold radiating out from Dani's hands. Jo looked closely and there was ice forming on Dani's hands, melting the second that her fingers got close to the hand held sun. Dani tried to grab it and Jo's concentration was broken, letting the light go out, but Dani still had frost on her hands.

Marcia made her coffee cup come to her, drops splashing out as it wobbled through the air and Jo was already worrying about who would have to clean the rug, but it was more important that everyone saw what was going on, so that they could work out a solution.

"So…" Nicola said, and Jo could see her trying to process it all, "I can shoot lightning. Paul can control the weather." Paul frowned, and as he did it the rain started to fall outside. "Think of something happy." Rainbows shone around the room, reminding them all of the waterfall. "Jo can control light."

"And heat," Stoffel added, before holding his hands up in apology.

"Dani can freeze things, Marcia can move things, and Stoffel can stop time." Nicola frowned, her brow furrowed as she thought about it all. "Esta, Sera, have you felt any changes?"

They both shook their heads, looking around at Kevin who was munching on a chicken strip. "Kevin, have you noticed anything unusual lately, any changes since the camping trip?" Marcia asked, and Kevin shook his head, although he'd seemed a lot better behaved lately, but that wasn't necessarily to do with anything unusual. Final year seemed to make or break students, and luckily it had made Kevin a little more responsible.

"Are you sure?" Jo asked, "Nothing that seemed out of the ordinary? Little things that you couldn't quite explain?"

Esta and Sera both shook their heads again, and Kevin said, "No."

"So it was only those of us that went to the waterfall that got… Powers?" Jo looked around, wondering if Nicola's theory that it was all some sort of mass hallucination made any more sense now after all that they had seen it action.

Stoffel stood up, causing Jo to spill her tea as she jumped in fright, and he dashed off to his bedroom.

He returned carrying something familiar to all of them. The gemstone that he had got from the lagoon behind the waterfall. "The stones. They were all different, and yet they match our, _powers_."

"Dani's stone looked like ice," Marcia said, "And now she can freeze things." She went to fetch her own stone, as did Jo, and when they came back, they showed everyone them.

Jo's was warm to the touch, glowing slightly as though it had been placed under an ultraviolet light. Marcia's looked like it was vibrating, its molecules moving under the surface. Nicola reached into her handbag to pull out a stone that appeared to have lightning streaks through it.

"Mine looked like a storm in a stone," Paul said, biting on his lip as he thought about it and the clouds started to block the sun.

"Grey and moody, just like you." Nicola laughed and Esta looked awkward. Jo wanted to reach out and comfort her, but Sera was in the way and she didn't want to make things weird. Weirder.

"We should take the stones back, return them to the lake." Jo reached out for Stoffel's hand, she needed the comfort. "Hopefully that will put an end to all of this."

"You want this to stop?" Marcia said, and Dani slunk down in her seat as Marcia raised her voice.

"Yes. It nearly killed Nicola." Jo stared at Marcia, she hadn't expected anyone to want to keep them, there was no knowing what would happen to them, what it was doing to their bodies. "We have no way of controlling them, people could get hurt."

"If you guys want to take them back, fine. But I'm keeping mine." Marcia folded her arms, she was done talking. It was so rarely that they argued, in fact, Marcia wasn't the type to scream and shout, she was usually too laid back to care about most things.

"It has to be all or nothing, we don't know if they're linked." Jo couldn't bear to see anyone get hurt, it had been touch and go with Nicola, and there was no guarantee that next time would be any different.

Marcia hung her head, she wanted to tell Jo that it would be fine, but she had no idea how any of this worked, and if they could stop anyone getting hurt, then she would do it. "Okay."

"Next weekend, before the holidays start, we'll go back up there and return them." Jo wasn't sure that she'd be able to get one of the pool cars but she knew that the bus tickets weren't too expensive, and it would be easiest if they all went, that way they could all go home for Christmas and relax, knowing that it was all over.

"I'll book the tickets," Kevin said, and Jo jumped again, she'd forgotten he was there. She wasn't sure why he would want to go too, but when she saw the way he looked at his sister, his brow furrowed with unhappy thoughts, she knew.

***

Esta and Sera couldn't rearrange their flights, which had only caused more problems with Esta and Nicola's relationship. But since they didn't need to go, Nicola didn't want to change their plans. She had gone with Esta to the airport, hugging her and kissing her as she left for her flight. They would talk to each other every day, but it wasn't the same as actually being together, being able to hold each other, waking up to her in the morning. Just the simple knowledge that Esta was close made everything better.

Nicola couldn't wait until she could take Esta home to her parents, she was sure that her parents would love Esta, but she couldn't do that before Esta had actually told her parents that they were dating.

Paul was sitting next to her on the bus, holding her hand as they trundled their way up to the park. There was snow when they left but with Jo trying to force the sun to shine on them, and Paul thinking happy thoughts so that the weather would clear up, they hoped that they would manage to make good time.

Kevin was draped over the back of Marcia's seat, stealing her sweeties and getting his hand stuck in the bag. Dani was playfully batting his hand away as she cuddled into Marcia, glad that she didn't have to hide their relationship.

Jo knew that Marcia wasn't happy about having to hide their relationship, she was very touchy-feely even with friends, and not being able to be affectionate towards her girlfriend in public was a real pain for her. But Marcia respected Dani's decision, and she knew that it wasn't because she was ashamed of her, or their relationship.

Stoffel put his arm around her and Jo was so glad that he was there beside her, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to manage all this alone. It was going to be late when they arrived, and they were going to have to hike through the forest, in the dark, to try and find the waterfall again.

"What if this doesn't work?" Jo kept her voice low, she was putting on a brave face for everyone else, but she wasn't sure if they had a plan B to fall back on if this didn't work. She could feel her skin getting warmer, but she wasn't glowing, so her powers had to be raising her body temperature. Again.

"It will, and everything will all go back to the way it was." Stoffel held her hand tight, intertwining their fingers and stroking the side of her hand. Jo could feel her temperature getting lower and she took a deep breath, it was going to be a long journey, and the best thing that she could do was sleep, save her energy for later.

When she woke up it was dark, she had drooled on Stoffel's shoulder and she tried to wipe it up to no avail. "Sorry."

"It's cute."

"Cute? I drool in my sleep and it's cute?" Jo shook her head as Stoffel gave her a kiss, they were pulling into the bus station and it was going to be over a mile before they even found the campsite, and then another four miles up to the waterfall, through the dark, wet, and frosty forest.

At least Jo's powers would come in use, they would be able to have light to see where they were going, and to warm them up. Even with all their winter clothes, there was a chill in the air that cut through them all.

Jo had checked that everyone had their stones with them before they left. Kevin had joked that maybe he could take one, see what power he would get, but Marcia had just scowled at him and he'd dropped the subject. Once they had all their bags, and thanked the driver, they made sure that they still had all their stones, readying themselves for the journey.

The street lights were enough to get them to the path that would lead them to the campsite, and only when Jo was sure that no-one was about did Jo create five little balls of light and heat.

"Marcia, can you make them float above us?" Jo asked, and she could see Marcia had to bite her tongue, she wasn't happy about having to give up her newfound powers, but she knew why she had to.

It took a couple of tries, but Marcia managed it, making them float over them as they walked. They had formed a chain, holding on to each other by hands or rucksack straps, and every fifteen minutes or so, Jo checked that they still had everyone, which she could tell was annoying the others, but she didn't want to have to go roaming through the forest to find someone. It was going to be hard enough finding the waterfall, and making it back to the bus station for tomorrow afternoon. Although hopefully now that the driver recognised them, he would wait for them, which would give them a little bit of breathing room.

Stoffel was leading the chain, holding the map and using his time slowing powers to check it so that they didn't have to spend any longer in the cold than absolutely necessary, which everyone was grateful for.

"I'm hungry," Nicola said, and Jo knew that they should stop and eat. Jo managed to make the five balls of light join together, forming a strange campfire that they could huddle around, as Jo heated up the sandwiches that she'd brought with her, the melted cheese and warm bread satisfying in a primal way and for the first time since she'd realised that she had these powers, she actually saw them as a good thing rather than something that might kill them all.

Even just watching everyone eat brought a smile to her face, such simple comfort, and yet the warm food was what they needed to push on. They weren't walking for much longer when they heard the rumble of water falling from a great height, and they knew that they were close to the waterfall.

Kevin stumbled on the uneven ground as Stoffel rushed towards the sound, not realising that Kevin was still holding on to one of the straps on his rucksack. Marcia and Stoffel helped Kevin to the flatter ground, sitting him on a rucksack so that Jo could look at his ankle.

While Jo was strapping Kevin's ankle, warming it with her hands, and powers; the others were heading towards the waterfall. And that was when she heard the screams.

She left an orb of light near Kevin, it would be enough for him to warm his hands on, and rushed over to where the others were by the waterfall, all getting soaked as the water crashed down towards the pool at the bottom.

"There's nothing here," Stoffel said, "It's solid rock."

Jo wandered towards him, making her hands glow so that she could illuminate the rock behind the waterfall, there wasn't enough space for her to stay dry while she did it, and it was taking all of her strength not to get knocked over by the water. Although it wasn't a big fall to the small pool below, but without knowing how deep it was, there was still the potential for injury.

She was knocking on the rock, trying to hear if it was hollow but the sound of the water was too loud. Jo tried to use the ultraviolet end of the light spectrum, to see if there was anything hidden in the rocks, but there was nothing, just plain stone.

They all spent ages pushing at the stones, hoping there would be some secret lever, like something out of an _Indiana Jones_ film, but there was nothing. Jo's nails were cracked and some of her fingers were bleeding when she admitted defeat, Stoffel holding her tight as she slumped against him.

"Come, I brought tea. If you can warm it," Stoffel said, and Jo smiled, so glad that she had someone looking out for her, after all these years looking out for everyone else.

They drank the tea and coffee that Stoffel had brought, it was still lukewarm in the flasks, but Jo gave it a little additional heat. Nicola had a stash of chocolate bars and she shared them out, which was monumental, Jo had never seen Nicola share food, not even with Esta.

Kevin seemed to look a little better after coffee and sweeties, no longer pale, well, not as pale as he was before. Stoffel was looking over the map with the light from Jo's hand, and he was trying to work out if there was somewhere else along the river that might have a waterfall, which could have been the one with the hidden lagoon. All they wanted to do was return the gems, but leaving by the wall of stone behind the waterfall didn't seem right, and they wanted to hold on to the gems until they knew that they were putting them back in the right place.

"There's a bit further up the river where the conditions are right for a waterfall," Stoffel said, "I'm going to stop time and go investigate."

"No, I don't want you to go alone." Jo held Stoffel's hand, staring at him as she waited for him to say something, or for Marcia to back her up, but when she looked round at where Marcia was sitting, snuggled into Dani, she realised that they weren't moving. "Did you freeze time?"

"Yes, and it seems that if I hold your hand, you can join me. So I won't have to go alone." Stoffel smiled, he was cute when he blushed, and Jo was amazed by how calm he seemed, even when everything was chaotic around them.

"Let's go." Jo leant in for a kiss, making sure that her lips were warm against Stoffel's cold skin. They were both soaked to the bone, as were the others, only Kevin was dry, and Jo took a deep breath before focusing all her energy, forming a ball of light and heat so big that her arms were barely able to hold it. She left it in the middle of the circle, hoping that it would at least help dry out their cold and sodden friends.

Jo lost all sense of time as they wandered through the forest. With time standing still everything was eerily quiet, and Jo felt dizzy and disorientated. She kept trying to listen out for the sound of running water, but there was nothing.

"This is so weird, it's too quiet," Jo said, holding Stoffel's hand a little tighter. They got to a ridge where the hill rose sharply, and Stoffel checked the map, before wandering across to where the river trickled down the steep incline.

"When everything starts again it's weirder. The noise feels deafening, are you ready?" Stoffel asked, and Jo nodded, taking both his hands and staring into his eyes, hoping that by having something to focus on it would make it feel less strange.

The noise almost knocked her off her feet, the water, the wind, the owl screeching at their friends, it overwhelmed her and it took a minute for her brain to adjust to all the sounds and turn her internal volume control down so that it was a tolerable level for her.

"Are you okay?" Stoffel asked, as Jo stood blinking while she made sense of the world again.

"Yes. It's… it's so much of a shock."

Stoffel nodded, and they looked about, but the water was nowhere near powerful enough for a waterfall, even if there had been more water. Jo felt at the rocks that the water was running over and there was no sign of any cavern or hidden lagoon.

He peered at the map, hoping that somewhere else would suggest that it could have been the waterfall that they found. But Stoffel already knew the truth, whatever had created that hidden lagoon had taken it away. Why? They would probably never know, but it meant that there was no going back, no returns on their new powers, so they were going to have to find a way to live with them.

Jo shook her head, she'd come to the same conclusion as Stoffel, wondering how this could happen, for no reason at all, come into their lives and mess it all up before disappearing without a trace.

"We should go back to the others," Stoffel said, "Hopefully they've dried out by now."

It took them a while to walk back to the others, Jo holding onto Stoffel, unsure of what would happen if she let go of him at any point. She kept checking her watch, but it always said the same time, 1:09 a.m.

By the time they got back, however long that took them, Jo was hoping that the others would be drier than she was, but there was no such luck. Everyone was still as thoroughly wet as when they left.

"They're still soaked," Jo said, checking to see if anything had dried at all.

"Time has stopped, so they won't dry until time starts ticking again." Stoffel closed his eyes, holding Jo's hand tight as everything came rushing back again, and the roar of the waterfall was deafening.

"Where did the fire come from?" Marcia asked, confusion written all over her face.

"I had to stop time so we could check the surrounding area for another waterfall," Stoffel said, as he shuffled closer to the only source of warmth.

"And he took me with him." Jo cuddled in next to Stoffel, letting the warmth melt away the sting of the cold water.

"So, there's no way to put the stones back?" Paul asked, looking at his gem with confusion.

"Doesn't look like it. Whatever wanted us to find them, wanted us to keep them." Jo wasn't sure if that was reassuring or not, but it was what had happened, and they were just going to have to figure out how to deal with it.

"This has to stay a secret," Dani said, her eyes darting around the circle of people. "No-one can know that we have these _gifts_."

"Agreed." Nicola nodded, there was no knowing what people would do if they found out.

"And since we don't know who gave them to us, we shouldn't use them. They might be able to track us that way." Dani wanted to take her rock and throw it away, never look at it again, and yet she knew, deep down in her soul, that it wouldn't make anything better.

Marcia let out a sob, and Dani held her tight, telling her that it was all okay, that they would get through it together.

"It's my fault, I broke my gem." Marcia held out the two halves of her stone, but it still looked like it was vibrating. Dani placed the pieces together and the two halves snapped together like magnets, fusing themselves together. They all looked around to see if anything had changed, but nothing had, apart from the fact that Marcia now had a whole gem again.

Paul took his stone and slammed it against a rock, breaking it into three pieces, and he looked at them carefully before pushing them back together. It reformed, but that was it. "See, it's nothing to do with the gems. Jo's right, they were meant for us."

"Until we know why, none of us should use our powers. Agreed?" Jo wasn't sure how she'd ended up in charge, but she had, and with Stoffel by her side she was sure that she could cope with it all. As long as no-one used their powers they could go back to living a nice, normal life.


	7. Acceptance

Nicola had told the guy that she wasn't interested, twice, and when that failed she'd told him that she had a girlfriend, which had brought a disgusting leer to his face.

She was sick of him, and she knew what would get rid of him. Nicola reached out her hand, hovering over his heart, before giving him a small shock. Not enough to kill him, but enough to make him scream out in pain.

He mumbled something about her being a 'crazy bitch' but he didn't hang around and Nicola breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that she shouldn't have used her powers but she didn't think that any of the others would find out, since it was just this one time.

*

Paul was watering his plants, using a watering can, when he got a text from Nicola saying that she was missing Esta. He'd have offered to go round but he had to head to the airport soon, in just a couple of hours he'd be on his way home for the holidays. But just because he couldn't be there, didn't mean that he couldn't cheer her up.

He focused all of his powers to make rainbows appear outside Nicola's flat, and he got a message from her that was a picture of them with a smiley face underneath. She didn't say a word about him using his powers, and it was just this one time.

*

Stoffel had slowed time, just this once, so that he could watch all of his tv shows before he went home _and_ spend time with Jo. He knew that once he was home, he would have to spend time with his family, which meant dealing with the endless stream of cousins, nieces and nephews that needed babysitting. All of the things that he watched were unsuitable for children, and he would have to endure the nightmare of watching Disney movies on repeat, for two weeks.

*

Jo was drinking her coffee on the balcony, and Stoffel was shivering. She'd already got him a blanket, but it didn't seem to be helping.

"I miss the sun, lounging in its warmth, soaking up the rays." Stoffel shivered again, and Jo knew what would make him happy. Just this one time.

She focused the sun, creating a Stoffel-sized patch of warmth and light for him to lie out in. Naked.

It was a beautiful sight to behold, Stoffel's perfect body laid out next to her on the balcony, smile on his face as he basked in the sun.

*

Danielle was talking about how she was disappointed that it hadn't snowed again, since that one freak snowstorm they had a while ago. She was packing to go home to Australia, where it would be the height of summer.

Dani saw that it was raining, and she knew that she could make it snow, but she also knew that she shouldn't, since she'd promised the others that she wouldn't use her powers. But she wanted to help a friend out. It was just this once.

"I think it's meant to snow later today," Dani said, sipping at her coffee as Danielle's smile lit up her face. She waited a little while, until Danielle had finished packing, before making it snow.

The four of them made snowmen, and pelted each other with snowballs until the sun began to set, and Danielle looked so happy. It had been worth it.

*

Marcia woke up late, so late that it was afternoon rather than morning, but her and Kevin weren't going home this year, their parents were away on a cruise, now that they were free from the obligations of Christmas, what with her and Kevin being grown-ups now.

She checked that no-one was home before making herself a coffee, without leaving the warmth of her bed. Marcia knew that she shouldn't, but it was so cold, and there was no-one about to see her doing it.

Jo and Stoffel weren't leaving until nearer Christmas day, so they had another week together. Marcia had hoped that they could stay and spend the holidays with them, but both their families had said that they would be disappointed if they didn't come home.

She was going to miss them. Dani had already left for home, as had Nicola and Paul, and it was strange not having them around. Marcia could have sworn that she felt their absence more now, but they had all been spending so much time together lately that it wasn't a surprise that she felt it more this year than the previous ones.

***

Nicola thought that being home would be nice and relaxing, not a lot of work to do and lots of good food. Normally this was her idea of heaven, and yet she felt down. None of the usual things were making her happy. She tried to tell herself that she just missed Esta, and Paul if she was being honest, but she'd spent time apart from both of them in the past, and it had never bothered her like this.

She pressed the power button on her laptop and went to get herself a cup of coffee while it booted up. They had formed a group chat so that they could all stay in touch over the holidays. Kevin was a part of it even though he didn't have any powers, but even if they'd stopped him from joining, Marcia would have told him everything anyway, so it seemed the easiest way.

Nicola logged in to Skype and saw that Esta was online, with the time difference it would be breakfast time for her. She hit the call button without even thinking, she just needed to talk to someone, and Esta always made her feel better, no matter what was happening.

They chatted until Nicola felt calm again, and Esta sent her pictures of cute fluffy animals to cheer her up. But it wasn't quite enough to lift the feeling of unease that she had.

*

Paul arrived back in Scotland to torrential rain, and he felt guilty about it, he was sure that it was his powers that were doing it, but he wasn't sure how to stop it. He felt alienated from his friends, having this secret that he had to keep, and it didn't help with his plan for staying on top of his powers while he was home, which was think happy thoughts.

He thought about telling the others, seeing if they could cheer him up but he didn't want to burden them, so he curled up with his laptop, watching trashy films as he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he woke up to the news that there had been severe flooding across Scotland and his first thought was that he was responsible. He felt the tears running down his face as he hid in his bedroom, hoping that his parents wouldn't be up yet.

Paul spent the morning looking through the news sites, it said that there had already been some flooding before he got home, which allayed some of his worries, but not all of them, what if he was making the flooding worse? What if it should have stopped by now?

He grabbed his laptop and hoped that Nicola would be online, stabbing at the call button and hoping that she would answer as the bubbly ringtone chirped away.

"Hey, how was your flight home?" Nicola said, and even through the low quality webcam picture, Paul could see that she had bags under her eyes. She wasn't having a good time of things either. He was torn between telling her and trying to put on a brave face but in the end the tears won, advertising his feelings for her to see. "What's wrong?"

"There's floods here and I think that I've caused them." Paul covered his face with his hands, slumping in front of the screen as he wondered what he could do. "I shouldn't have used my powers, but I did."

"I used mine too," Nicola said, and wrinkles appeared on her forehead, her lips compressed. "The circuit breaker keeps tripping and my parents think that it's broken, but it has to be me, I'm overloading the system."

"It's not your fault. We didn't ask for these powers, we tried to give them back." Paul wanted nothing more than to be there by her side, not that he could do anything, but he was sure that being able to hold her and comfort her would be better than nothing.

"What if we don't control them? What if the things that gave us these powers control them?" Nicola shook her head, did she really thing that aliens, or some government conspiracy had given them these powers and were now controlling them, turning them into weapons? Why would they do that? It seemed illogical, and yet she couldn't think of a better explanation. And it would be the perfect way to take over the world, using pawns with superpowers.

Paul thought about what Nicola was saying, and it did make sense, especially since they'd both seemed to have the same problem controlling their powers. It was too much of a coincidence that it happened at the same time. "We should ask the others if they're having the same problems."

 Nicola nodded, but she wasn't sure that she was going to like what the others had to say.

*

Dani woke up frozen, literally frozen. She couldn't move her limbs because of the ice and her entire room had a sheet of ice covering the walls and door. It was difficult to breathe and there was a cloud of freezing fog hanging in front of her eye every time that she exhaled.

She wanted to scream but she couldn't and she was sure that it would only terrify her parents, so she tried to breathe calmly, thinking happy and warm thoughts until the ice started to melt. Thankfully it was only a thin layer, so there wasn't too much water to clear up but there was a lot of damp in the air and Dani wasn't sure if it was because of the weather outside or her.

She wondered how Marcia was getting on, at least she had Kevin around to keep her company, Dani felt all alone, and that wasn't helping her keep control of her powers.

*

Jo was enjoying being home, but with her dad fussing over her, she had to make sure that she was a reasonable human temperature at all times. Which was proving difficult. It seemed like she was incapable of controlling her powers, and the more she talked to the others, the more she was sure that it wasn't just her.

She was wondering if it was because she'd left her gemstone back at uni, but Marcia was saying the same thing and she had her stone with her, so it ruled that out.

Jo was lying in a cold bath, but she could feel the water warming around her. It was only a matter of time before her dad thought that she was sick. So she was just going to have to fake being ill. Endless tea and being cuddled up on the sofa in blankets wasn't too bad a way to spend her holidays, she just had to make sure that she wasn't so warm that her dad would take her to the hospital. She should be able to manage that. Hopefully.

*

Stoffel felt like time was flashing in front of his eyes, he wasn't sure if it was because he had to watch _Frozen_ for the hundredth time this holiday or if his powers were acting up.

Nicola's wild theory that someone else, something else, might be controlling their powers didn't reassure him and he wished that they were all still together, at least they could comfort each other if nothing else.

He woke up and went to make himself a cup of coffee, but when he got downstairs everyone else was already dressed and eating lunch.

"Is this you catching up on your sleep?" his mum asked, and Stoffel nodded, it made the most sense.

"Yeah." Stoffel wasn't sure what was going on, but nodding seemed like the easiest option.

"You're looking better today, you were like a zombie yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"Yes, you know, Christmas Day?" His mum looked at him with worry in her eyes, and he blinked a few times before nodding again. He was sure that today was Christmas day, yesterday was Christmas Eve… Had he lost a day? That wasn't a good sign.

"Yes. Sorry, this year is really crazy at uni, so much work. It's all just catching up with me." Stoffel gave his mum a kiss on the cheek before sitting down to dinner, he'd obviously fast forwarded through all of yesterday and slept for most of today. It was annoying but at least no-one was hurt by it.

He'd be home soon, he was spending New Year back at uni with everyone, so it would all be okay.

*

Jo was back at the flat, she'd managed not to worry her dad too much, and she had been fussed over which was quite relaxing, with her little brother fetching her tea and chocolate. Being 'sick' had definitely had its perks.

Stoffel was getting back today and the twins were excited about all of them being back together so that they could celebrate New Year's Eve together.

Jo woke to the sound of Marcia banging around in the kitchen, she wasn't exactly quiet in the mornings, her need for coffee overriding everything else.

She went through to see if Marcia wanted a hand, and to make a cup of tea for herself, but when she opened the door to the kitchen, she saw that Marcia was huddled up on the floor in a ball, things flying around her as she cried.

"Make it stop!" Marcia screamed, and Jo tried to pick her way through all the flying cutlery and crockery, even the toaster had decided to take flight. In the end Jo had to go and get her thickest coat to protect her from it all.

She was battling her way through to Marcia, trying to keep a smile on her face to show that everything was fine, when clearly it wasn't. "It's all going to be okay, we'll find a solution to it all, I promise."

Marcia just kept crying and Jo could feel her temperature rising, but she took a deep breath as a plate smacked her across the head, she would be no use to anyone if she was unconscious. Jo was nearly there when something knocked her onto the floor.

She felt a little winded, but then she heard Marcia scream and when she looked down there was a knife sticking out of her abdomen. Each breath she took she could feel the blade inside her as her vision started to fade. The last thing she heard was a scream, and then it all went black.

*

Stoffel heard a noise as he opened the door to the flat, it sounded like someone banging around in the kitchen only louder, and he rushed to see if everything was okay. He saw Marcia crying, things flying around, and Jo unconscious on the floor, with a knife sticking out of her. Stoffel froze everything, shoving his way through the floating clutter until he was by Jo's side. He tried to check for a pulse, but it was no use, time was stopped, which meant that her heart had stopped too.

Tears were running down his face as he tried to figure out what to do. He would have to make time run again to check that Jo had a pulse and was breathing, but he didn't want her to bleed to death in that time.

He wasn't sure if he could freeze time and hold Jo's hand, stop her being frozen, but could she bleed to death even if the rest of the world was frozen? He didn't know, and he didn't want to risk it.

Stoffel looked at Jo's wound, with the thick coat the knife hadn't gone in too deep, and he wasn't sure if taking it out was the best thing to do. In the end he spent hours reading medical textbooks online, while Jo lay suspended in time, and Stoffel hoped that she felt no pain.

He knew that he had to move her, so that she wasn't in danger of being stabbed or hurt by anything else. Same for Marcia, he had to get them somewhere safe.

He removed the knife, and carried Jo to his bed, before unfreezing time for a split second so that he could grab Marcia's hand and stop time again, with Marcia no longer affected by his powers.

"What happened to Jo?" Marcia said, as she looked at the cutlery hanging in the air.

"She got stabbed with a knife," Stoffel said, and Marcia let out a sob. "It doesn't look deep, but I don't want to unfreeze time until I've healed her."

Marcia nodded as tears ran down her face and Stoffel led her through to his bedroom, where Jo was lying out, unaware of what was happening.

"I've read lots of things, and it says that if the blood isn't black, then it hasn't gone into her liver and it will just need stitching up. Or supergluing."

"Superglue?" Marcia looked at Stoffel with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, they used it in the Vietnam war. It's quicker than stitches for military people injured in the field. It also reduces the risk of infection compared to traditional medical sutures. And it should leave less of a scar." Stoffel could see that none of this was reassuring Marcia. "Can you hold her down? I need to unfreeze time and she's going to feel the pain."

Marcia nodded but nothing could have prepared them for the fact that Jo was still unconscious when time started running again, and the blood was pouring out of her wound. Red blood that was pooling on the towels underneath her.

Stoffel froze time again, leaving Marcia frozen too, an audience would have only made things more stressful than they already were. It didn't take him long to seal the cut with superglue, but he was going to have to wait for Jo to come round before he would know if it worked.

When the sound of the world came rushing back Stoffel held Jo's hand tight, tears running down his face as he mumbled the words 'I love you' over and over again.

There was the sound of things crashing to the floor in the kitchen and Stoffel saw that Marcia had fallen asleep next to Jo, it was probably for the best, before she did any more damage. Jo blinked a few times, her eyes flew open and she tried to sit up but the pain pushed her back down.

"It's okay now." Stoffel kissed at her hand, stroking her hair out of her face as she figured out what was going on.

"The knife…"

"I took it out, while you were frozen in time, and fixed your wound."

Tears streamed down Jo's cheeks, she couldn't believe how much of a mess all this was, but she was so glad to have her friends around her. "Thank you."

There was the sound of Kevin shouting from the kitchen, and Stoffel went to tell him everything. He froze time for the next couple of weeks, allowing Jo's cut to heal while the rest of the world was suspended indefinitely. It was so peaceful that when the rest of the world came rushing back, he felt overwhelmed by the noise of it all.

***

They didn't bother having a party for New Year's, they were happy just to curl up on the sofa, huddled up under blankets as Jo kept the four of them warm.

After all the craziness they'd agreed to meet up the second that Dani, Nicola and Paul got back to university. They had to figure out a solution to their problems, if they couldn't give their powers back, they would have to find a way to control them.

Dani was the last to get back, she'd landed that morning but she had to check in with her flatmates, and supervisor, that day. But just knowing they were all close by made everything feel better, calmer, and Marcia couldn't wait to see her again that evening.

By the time they were all assembled in the living room, everyone looked much happier than they had done over the holidays, and that was a good start to figuring out what they were going to do.

"How does everyone feel?" Jo asked, wincing as she leant forward to get her tea. Even though her stab wound had healed she still felt it sometimes.

Nicola shoved another slice of pizza in her mouth before saying, "Good." Which everyone laughed at, although Jo was sure that was her intention.

"So, it looks like being away from our stones makes our powers play up?" Paul said, but Marcia just shook her head.

"I was here with mine the whole time and my powers still went crazy." Marcia looked at Jo, she'd said sorry so many times but it just didn't feel like enough. Jo held her hand, and Dani hugged her a little tighter.

"I took mine home and it helped a little bit," Dani said, "But it didn't stop it completely."

"Are you back in control of them now?" Jo asked, and Dani made a tiny sculpture of a butterfly using only the steam from her cup of tea.

The others stared as the ice butterfly melted away in front of their eyes. They all tried out their powers, and it seemed that they had full control.

"When did you get control of them back?" Jo asked Dani, and she thought back to this morning, not long after she'd got home, when she froze her yogurt, just because she wanted to.

"This morning, when I got home." Dani held Marcia tight, sipping at her coffee as she looked around. "What does it all mean?"

"It's not just the stones that are linked to our powers, we're linked to each other too." Jo looked around, expecting people to call her crazy, but everyone nodded, it all made sense when they thought about it. Now that they were back together they all had perfect control of their powers.

"How do you have such control of your power?" Nicola asked Dani, and she took her gem stone out her cardigan pocket.

"So we need to carry the gems around with us?" Paul said, and Stoffel held out a small bit of black stone, it was only when they looked closer that they could see it had the same pattern as his gem.

"Or a bit of the gem."

"You should make it into jewellery," Kevin said. Jo had forgotten he was here, but since he lived here it would seem silly to exclude him, and he knew everything anyway, so they didn't have to worry about that. "You could all have matching rings!"

Jo laughed but Nicola looked awkward, shifting in her seat as Paul tried to comfort her. "I was going to propose to Esta."

Everyone piled in for a hug and Paul bit his lip, he knew what she was saying; the last thing she wanted was any more trouble with Esta. And her having matching rings with Paul would definitely cause trouble.

"Don't worry, I'll sort it." Kevin had the cheekiest grin on his face and Marcia shook her head, but it didn't stop them all giving Kevin a chip from their gems, Jo using her heat powers to laser little bits off them.

*

It took three months for Kevin to make jewellery for all of them that had a little bit of their gem in it. He was using them as his final piece for his degree, but he wasn't going to let any of them see it until the end of term.

There had been much anticipation as Kevin had spent the whole time teasing them about how ugly they were. Classes had been hectic for all of them, and with worrying about what they were going to do after they graduated, since they couldn't be separated for long periods of time without their powers going crazy, they had been glad that Kevin was distracting them from it all.

Jo had come up with the perfect solution to it all, she was going to use her trust fund to buy a block of flats, so that they could all live together once they graduated, without six, eight including Kevin and Esta, of them having to share one flat.

In the end everyone was invited over for dinner for the unveiling, right before finals, which was when they would need all the help they could get to keep control of their powers.

Kevin had built it all up so much that they were sitting in silence, holding their breath as they waited for him to open the large box sat in front of him. It was a red velvet box, about the size of a paperback book.

"The suspense is killing me," Marcia said, and everyone laughed, the tension in the room broken.

Kevin opened the box and it creaked open, revealing one ring sitting in the middle, with all their stones set in it.

"You were meant to make six rings you idiot." Marcia stared at him but Kevin just kept smiling. He took the ring out and disassembled it into six separate pieces.

"Impressive." Stoffel took them and tried to slot them back together but he couldn't make them fit without falling apart. Kevin raised an eyebrow and leant back in his chair.

"You can say it now, I'm a genius." Kevin laughed and they all looked at their rings, they were so intricate, and their stones shone out.

"Thank you," Jo said, as the others thanked him.

Kevin sat up abruptly and patted his pockets. "Nicola, I think these might be of interest to you."

He threw a small box over to Nicola, the sort that was the right size for one ring, and she opened it carefully. Inside were two beautiful rings, delicate and glinting in the light. "How did you know what size to make Esta's ring?"

Kevin smiled, he'd not had to work hard to find that out. "A little mouse told me."

*

Esta sat in the park, Sera sitting beside her as she waited for Nicola to arrive. It seemed a strange place for her to want to meet. When she saw Nicola strolling up, with her new friends in tow and Paul holding her hand, Esta was sure that Nicola was going to break up with her and she prepared herself for the worst.

Nicola was only a couple of metres away when Esta saw Sera smiling out the corner of her eye, staring at Nicola as she got down on one knee in front of her.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
